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When you are feeling upset, angry, or sad, don’t blame another for your state of mind. Your condition is the result of your own opinions and interpretations.
People who are ignorant of philosophy blame others for their own misfortunes. Those who are beginning to learn philosophy blame themselves. Those who have mastered philosophy blame no one.
Do not wish that all things will go well with you, but that you will go well with all things.
Love this.
For as long as the Source entrusts something to your hands, treat it as something borrowed, like a traveller at an inn.
It is better to die poor, while free from fear and grief, than to live surrounded by riches and filled with anxiety.
“But I’ll get money, and then share it.” If you can acquire riches without losing your honor and self-respect, then do it. But if you lose what is dearest to you, no amount of money can make up for it.
So, if you have not been invited to a party, it is because you haven’t paid the price of the invitation. It costs social engagement, conversation, encouragement, and praise. If you are not willing to pay this price, do not be upset when you don’t receive an invitation. Do you have anything good in place of the invitation? Yes—you have the pleasure of not making small talk with people you don’t really like, not praising someone you don’t admire, and not mingling with lackeys.
Ha
The Good stands before us like an archer’s target. Evil is not a thing in itself but a missing of the mark, an arrow gone astray.
I like this phrasing. People are not evil, they are seeking good things in the wrong way.
Stop judging the things that fate brings you as “good” or “evil”; only judge your own thoughts, desires, and actions as good or evil.
Be the same person in public as in private.
Speak only what is useful and beneficial. In conversation, avoid idle chatter about horse races, athletes, celebrities, food, and drink. Refuse to participate in gossip—tearing down, inflating, and judging other people. Among friends, shift the conversation to worthy topics; among strangers, stay silent.
Gaining in self-possession is more satisfying than any bodily pleasure.
Black and white thinking may seem powerful in speeches and debates, but real life is mostly gray areas. It is rarely a question of good versus bad, but of weighing greater and lesser goods on a scale of values.
Unless you perfectly understand another’s motives, how can you judge them? Do not mistake your impressions for the whole truth.
An ignorant person is one who is tossed about between elation and despair by external forces and events. A philosopher is one whose thoughts and emotions are internally anchored. She criticizes no one, praises no one, blames no one. She considers herself a student, not an expert. When she fails, she takes responsibility. When she succeeds, she smiles to herself.
The whole point of learning is to live out the teachings.
Lead me, Fate, wherever you will, and I will cheerfully follow. For, even if I kick and wail, all the same I must follow. —Cleanthes
