The Best Epictetus Quotes on Control and Freedom

Epictetus never wrote anything down. His quotes survive only because a student recorded his lectures in the Discourses and the Enchiridion. The result is the bluntest, most usable Stoicism there is, built almost entirely around a single idea, control. Here are his sharpest lines.

Epictetus does not comfort you. He corrects you, and somehow that lands harder.

He was born a slave, which is probably why he had no patience for excuses or self-pity. Every line below is aimed at one thing, getting you to stop wasting your life on what you cannot change. For the story behind the voice, here is who Epictetus was.

Epictetus quotes on control

This is the foundation of everything he taught, and arguably of all Stoicism. Learn to tell apart what is yours from what is not.

“Some things are in our control and others are not. Within our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion; outside our control are body, property, reputation, and command.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

“It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Epictetus, Discourses

“There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things beyond the power of our will.”
Epictetus, Discourses

If you read only one idea from him, read the first one twice. The whole dichotomy of control lives in that single sentence.

Epictetus quotes on freedom

Coming from a former slave, his idea of freedom hits different. He meant the inner kind, the sort no one can take.

“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
Epictetus, Discourses

“He is free who lives as he wishes to live; who is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance nor to force.”
Epictetus, Discourses

“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
Epictetus, Discourses

Epictetus quotes on accepting what happens

He taught a kind of fierce acceptance, the same root idea behind amor fati. Want what happens, and you can never lose.

“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.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

“Never say of anything, ‘I have lost it’; but, ‘I have returned it.’”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

“Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be carried, the other by which it cannot.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

“Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

Epictetus quotes on practice

He cared more about what you do than what you can recite. Philosophy, to him, was a thing you live, not a thing you discuss.

“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Epictetus, Discourses

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion

“Circumstances do not make the man; they only reveal him to himself.”
Epictetus, Discourses

“No great thing is created suddenly.”
Epictetus, Discourses

Frequently asked questions

What is the most famous Epictetus quote?
Probably “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.” It is the seed of modern cognitive therapy and sums up his whole teaching, that our judgments, not events, cause our suffering.

Did Epictetus write any books?
No. Everything we have was recorded by his student Arrian, who compiled the lectures into the Discourses and a short handbook called the Enchiridion. Epictetus himself left no writings.

What did Epictetus say about control?
His central teaching is that some things are within our control, like our opinions and choices, and others are not, like our body, reputation, and possessions. Peace comes from focusing only on the first.

Was Epictetus really a slave?
Yes. He was born into slavery and later freed, then founded his own school. His background is a big reason his teaching on inner freedom carries such weight. Read more about his life or the full quote library.