1. "A child understands fear, and the hurt and hate it brings."
2. “All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.”
3. “A man that seeks truth and loves it must be reckoned precious to any human society.”
4. ”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.”
5. “Common and vulgar people ascribe all ills that they feel to others; people of little wisdom ascribe to themselves; people of much wisdom, to no one.”
6. “Demand not that events should happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well.”
7. “Difficulties show men what they are. In case of any difficulty remember that God has pitted you against a rough antagonist that you may be a conqueror, and this cannot be without toil.”
8. “Every art and every faculty contemplates certain things as its principal objects.”
9. “First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak."
10. “For what constitutes a child?—Ignorance. What constitutes a child?—Want of instruction; for they are our equals so far as their degree of knowledge permits.”
11. “God has entrusted me with myself.”
12. “If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.”
13. ”If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit, give it nothing which may tend to its increase.”
14. ”Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose? Nothing else. Tell me then, you men, do you wish to live in error? We do not. No one who lives in error is free. Do you wish to live in fear? Do you wish to live in sorrow? Do you wish to live in tension? By no means. No one who is in a state of fear or sorrow or tension is free, but whoever is delivered from sorrows or fears or anxieties, he is at the same time also delivered from servitude.”
15. “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
16. "It is much better to die of hunger unhindered by grief and fear than to live affluently beset with worry, dread, suspicion, and unchecked desire."
17. “It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.”
18. “Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly.”
19. “Men are disturbed not by things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.”
20. “Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.”
21. “No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.”
22. “No man is free who is not master of himself.”
23. “Nothing is in reality either pleasant or unpleasant by nature; but all things become so through habit.”
24. “Only the educated are free.”
25. “Practise yourself, for heaven’s sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater.”
26. "Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a part as it may please the master to assign you, for a long time or for a little as he may choose. And if he will you to take the part of a poor man, or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen, then may you act that part with grace! For to act well the part that is allotted to us, that indeed is ours to do, but to choose it is another's."
27. “Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.”
28. “The essence of good and evil is a certain disposition of the will.”
29. ”The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.“
30. “There is nothing good or evil save in the will.”
31. “The soul's impurity consists in bad judgments, and purification consists in producing in it right judgments, and the pure soul is one which has right judgments.”
32. “The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.”
33. “Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.”
34. “To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.”
35. “Two rules 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.”
36. "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."
37. “Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan.”
38. “What is the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-conceit. For it is impossible for any one to begin to learn what he thinks that he already knows.”
39. “When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is likely to follow it.”
40. “When you have shut your doors, and darkened your room, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; but God is within, and your genius is within,—and what need have they of light to see what you are doing?”
41. “Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.”
