Epictetus
“First say to yourself what you would be.”
Discourses, III.23
Documented source
Source
Epictetus, Discourses, III.23
Translator
Elizabeth Carter (1758), rev. T. W. Higginson (1865); public domain
Wording
Exact per Carter/Higginson
Every quote here is traced to a documented source. How we verify →
About this line
Epictetus taught from a bare room — a lamp, a pallet, and people who came across the empire to hear him. What he taught wasn’t comfort but an order: decide who you mean to be before the day decides for you.
Why we carry this line
He was a slave expressing how to talk to yourself. I normally tire of all the positivity culture sayings. But this rings true when you know the backstory.
