Epictetus

"Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the playwright. If he wishes you to play a poor man, an invalid, a ruler, or a private citizen, see that you play it well."

"Practice yourself from the start to say to every rough impression, 'You are an impression and not at all the thing you appear to be.'"

"Health and sickness are equally indifferent to the wise man."

"To truly understand others, you must first understand yourself."

"If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures."

"It is better to die than to live in dishonor."

"Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens."

"The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory in surmounting it."

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."

"If you desire improvement, be content to appear foolish and stupid regarding externals."

"You came into the world as a naked and helpless child, but you brought with you the capacity for virtue."

"True instruction teaches you not how to accomplish what you wish, but to regulate your wishes properly."

"Just as a person who takes a bath does not ask for hot water to be forever hot, so too must we accept change in life."

"Confine yourself to the present, and you will have less to worry about."

"The sign of a wise man is to begin in himself and gradually extend outward."

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."

"Living according to nature brings harmony to your soul."

"Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation."

"It is not the man who has little, but the man who desires more, that is poor."

"If you achieve something through struggle, you understand it more deeply than if it came easily."

"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one."

"Are you angry at someone because they are doing something against reason? Then begin by examining whether your own actions are in accordance with reason."

"The mind is the source of all things within us; all things are subject to the mind."

"Do not demand that things should happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do."

"Knowing others is strength, but knowing yourself is true power."

"Every external event is a teacher if you are willing to learn from it."

"The oath too much respected makes all virtue empty."

"To make progress, you must be willing to seem foolish and let go of your pretense."

"A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it."