At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself:
“I have to go to work—as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for—the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?…”

You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too—and what it demands of you. (It’s human nature to work.)

People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it—they even forget to wash or eat.

If action or utterance is appropriate, then it’s appropriate for you. Don’t be put off by other people’s comments and criticism. If it’s the right thing to say or do, then it’s the right thing for you to say or do.

The others obey their own lead, follow their own impulses. Don’t be distracted. Keep walking. Follow your own nature—and follow Nature—along the road they share.

Practice the virtues you can show:
Honesty, gravity, endurance, austerity, resignation, abstinence, patience, sincerity, moderation, seriousness, high-mindedness.
Don’t you see how much you have to offer—beyond excuses like “can’t”?
And yet you still settle for less.

What happens to each of us is ordered. It furthers our destiny.

No nature would do that—bring something about that wasn’t beneficial to what it governed.

Nothing can happen to me that isn’t natural.

Nothing happens to anyone that he can’t endure.

Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren’t packed with wise and moral actions.
But to get back up when you fail, to celebrate behaving like a human—however imperfectly—and fully embrace the pursuit you’ve embarked on.

Any assessment we make is subject to alteration—just as we are ourselves.

I can keep from doing anything that God and my own spirit don’t approve. No one can force me to.

The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.

It is crazy to want what is impossible. And impossible for the wicked not to do so.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

If it does not harm the community, it does not harm its members.

When you think you’ve been injured, apply this rule:
If the community isn’t injured by it, neither am I.
And if it is, anger is not the answer.
Show the offender where he went wrong.

Matter: How tiny your share of it.

Time: How brief and fleeting your allotment of it.

Fate: How small a role you play in it.

Honor and revere the gods, treat human beings as they deserve, be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.
Remember, nothing belongs to you but your flesh and blood—and nothing else is under your control.

You can lead an untroubled life provided you can grow, can think and act systematically.

True good fortune is what you make for yourself:
Good character, good intentions, and good actions.