Authors:
  1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. E
  4. Epictetus
  5. Desire

Epictetus Quotes about Desire

All Epictetus Quotes Achievement Adversity Anger Anxiety Appearance Art Attitude Blame Business Challenges Character Children Choices Communication Confidence Contentment Cooking Death Desire quotes Determination Difficulty Discipline Duty Dying Eating Education Effort Evil Exercise Failure Feelings Fighting Focus Food Freedom Giving God Gratitude Greatness Happiness Happy Harmony Heart Heaven Honor Hurt Inspiration Inspirational Judgement Judgment Justice Kindness Knowledge Learning Life Love Lying Money Motivational Pain Patience Philosophy Pleasure Positive Positive Thinking Power Praise Progress Purpose Reality Religion Responsibility Running Silence Sorrow Soul Suffering Time Training Tranquility Truth Understanding Victory Virtue Waiting Wife Wisdom Worry Writing
Desire and happiness cannot live together.

Desire and happiness cannot live together.

Epictetus
Desire, Together

Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, and desires and the demons that distract us from these goals. Outside of our control are such things as what kind of body we have, whether or not we are born into wealth, and how we are regarded by others.

Epictetus
Goal, Desire, Body

Freedom is secured not by the fulfillment of one's desires, but by the removal of desire.

Epictetus
Live Life, Desire, Fulfillment

To get or not to get what we desire can be equally disappointing.

Epictetus
Desire, Disappointing

Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.

Epictetus
Desire, Body, Aversion
Epictetus (2012). “The Handbook of Epictetus”, p.3, Simon and Schuster

The flourishing life cannot be achieved until we moderate our desires and see how superficial and fleeting they are.

Epictetus
Motivational, Desire, Fleeting

He is free who lives as he wishes to live; who is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance, nor to force; whose movements to action are not impeded, whose desires attain their purpose, and who does not fall into that which he would avoid.

Epictetus
Fall, Wish, Desire
Epictetus (2009). “The Enchiridion, or Handbook: With A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus”, p.172, The Floating Press

Learn to distinguish what you can and can't control. Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, desires and the things that repel us. They are directly subject to our influence.

Epictetus
Life, Desire, Opinion

Some things are up to us [eph' hêmin] and some things are not up to us. Our opinions are up to us, and our impulses, desires, aversions–in short, whatever is our own doing. Our bodies are not up to us, nor are our possessions, our reputations, or our public offices, or, that is, whatever is not our own doing.

Epictetus
Office, Desire, Body

You May Also Like: