Stoic Quotes on Control, What Is Up to You and What Is Not

A collection of the essential Stoic quotes on control, centered on Epictetus, who built his whole philosophy on one idea: some things are up to us and some are not. These lines map the single most useful distinction in Stoicism, the one that drains away most of our needless suffering.

If you take one idea from the Stoics, take this one. Sort the world into what you control and what you do not, then spend your energy only on the first. Here are the lines that say it best.

What is up to you

Epictetus opens his handbook with the distinction the whole philosophy rests on.

“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

“Where is the good? In the will. Where is the evil? In the will. Where is neither of them? In the things which are independent of the will.”
Epictetus, Discourses

Your response is the part that counts

You rarely control what happens. You always control how you meet it, and that is where your power lives.

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

“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Master yourself first

The Stoics defined freedom not as doing whatever you like, but as not being ruled by your own impulses.

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

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

Use what is yours, release the rest

The practical move is to pour yourself into your own part and let go of the outcome.

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

To put this into daily practice, see the dichotomy of control.

Frequently asked questions

What did the Stoics say about control?
The Stoics, especially Epictetus, taught that some things are within our control, namely our judgments, choices, desires, and actions, while most things are not, including outcomes, other people, our reputation, and our bodies. They held that nearly all suffering comes from trying to control what we cannot, and that peace comes from focusing our effort only on what is genuinely ours.

What is the most famous Stoic quote about control?
Epictetus’s opening line of the Enchiridion, “Some things are in our control and others are not,” is the most famous, because it states the principle the entire philosophy rests on. Marcus Aurelius’s “You have power over your mind, not outside events” is a close second, applying the same idea to the inner life.

How do I use the dichotomy of control?
When something troubles you, split it into two parts: what you can control and what you cannot. Your effort, response, and conduct are yours; the result, other people, and the past are not. Pour your energy into the first list and deliberately release the second. Practiced repeatedly, this simple sorting drains away the anxiety that comes from gripping things beyond your power.