Epictetus

 Epictetus on the discipline of action.

We must have these principles ready to hand. Without them we must do nothing. We must set our mind on this object: pursue nothing that is outside us, nothing that is not our own, even as He that is mighty has ordained: pursuing what lies within our will [prohairetika], and all else [i.e., indifferent things] only so far as it is given to us. Further, we must remember who we are, and by what name we are called, and must try to direct our acts [kathêkonta] to fit each situation and its possibilities.

We must consider what is the time for singing, what the time for play, and in whose presence: what will be unsuited to the occasion; whether our companions are to despise us, or we to despise ourselves: when to jest, and whom to mock at: in a word, how one ought to maintain one's character in society. Wherever you swerve from any of these principles, you suffer loss at once; not loss from without, but issuing from the very act itself. (Discourses 4.12.15–18, trans. Matheson)

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer "Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see" Arthur Schopenhauer

August 27, 2018 ·

"The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority" Arthur Schopenhauer

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."
Epictetus

"What is a good person? One who achieves tranquillity by having formed the habit of asking on every occasion, "what is the right thing to do now?" Epictetus"
As you think, so you become.....Our busy minds are forever jumping to conclusions, manufacturing and interpreting signs that aren't there." Epictetus