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If you wish to be good, first believe that you are bad.

Epictetus

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Epictetus
Philosopher
Epictetus of Hierapolis
Goodness
Wish
Firsts
First
Believe
Good

More quotes by Epictetus

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Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be or they neither are, nor appear to be or they are, and do not appear to be or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task.
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It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled spirit, amid abundance
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Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!
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Let thy speech of God be renewed day by day, aye, rather than thy meat and drink.
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Renew every day your conversation with God: Do this even in preference to eating. Think more often of God than you breathe.
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Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?
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There is only one thing for which God has sent me into the world, and that is to develop every kind of virtue or strength, and there is nothing in all the world that I cannot use for this purpose.
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Other people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.
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What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance.
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Unremarkable lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new.
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Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control.
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To live a life of virtue, match up your thoughts, words, and deeds.
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I am not eternity, but a man a part of the whole, as an hour is of the day.
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To a reasonable creature, that alone is insupportable which is unreasonable but everything reasonable may be supported.
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Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.
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Ask yourself, How are my thoughts, words and deeds affecting my friends, my spouse, my neighbour, my child, my employer, my subordinates, my fellow citizens?
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You have been given your own work to do. Get to it right now, do your best at it, and don't be concerned with who is watching you. Create your own merit.
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It were no slight attainment could we merely fulfil what the nature of man implies.
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A man that seeks truth and loves it must be reckoned precious to any human society.
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Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.
Epictetus