Epictetus on Ethics
Browse 7 quotations attributed to Epictetus, catalogued under Ethics, with dates where available.
This page displays 7 quotations attributed to Epictetus and filed under "Ethics" in QuoteLineage. The selection is ordered by stored importance and quality scores, not citation counts. A topic label describes how an entry is catalogued; it does not establish the theme's importance in the author's work.
Attributed to Epictetus, entry #47804: "The essence of good and evil is a certain disposition of the will."
Attributed to Epictetus, entry #238319: "Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. ."
7 Quotes by Epictetus on Ethics
"The essence of good and evil is a certain disposition of the will."
"Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. ."
"Two principles we should always have ready — that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them."
"The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests."
"If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled?"
"It was the first and most striking characteristic of Socrates never to become heated in discourse, never to utter an injurious or insulting word—on the contrary, he persistently bore insult from others and thus put an end to the fray. ."
"If what charms you is nothing but abstract principles, sit down and turn them over quietly in your mind: but never dub yourself a Philosopher, nor suffer others to call you so. Say rather: He is in error; for my desires, my impulses are unaltered. I give in my adhesion to what I did before; nor had my mode of dealing with the things of sense undergone any change. ."