Epictetus
“First say to yourself what you would be.”
Epictetus, Discourses, III.23
Documented source
Attribution
Epictetus
Source
Epictetus, Discourses, III.23
In full
“First say to yourself what you would be.”
Status
Public domain in the United States
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.
Objects carrying this line
More from this authorEpictetus →