1 - What makes a human being beautiful? Shouldn’t it be the excellence of a human being? [Epictetus, D2.23]

2 - There is no difference between breathing a single breath (as we do every moment) and having the ability to breathe for a long time (as we have done since our birth) only to give it back someday to the source. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.16]

3 - Many people take pains to hide their feelings and never show themselves as they are. They live an artificial life to impress others. [Seneca,T17]

4 - In every species nature produces an exceptional being. Among cattle, among dogs, among bees, among horses. Don’t ask that exceptional being,“Why, who are you?” [Epictetus D3.1]

5 - The elements move in all directions – above, below, and around us. But, virtue doesn’t move at random. She is more divine, moves serenely forward, and in ways we cannot understand. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.17]

6 - We can never be at ease if we imagine that everyone who looks at us is judging our real worth. [Seneca,T17]

7 - What makes you superior is your ability to reason. Decorate and beautify that aspect of you. [Epictetus D3.1]

8 - People behave in strange ways.They won’t praise their colleagues who live among them, yet crave for themselves the praise of future generations they have never seen and will never see. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.18]

9 - What pleasure lies in that pure honesty, which is its own ornament, and which hides no part of its character! [Seneca,T17]

10 - You are not flesh or hair but what you choose. If you make that beautiful, then you will be beautiful. [Epictetus D3.1]

11 - Don’t assume that something is impossible because you find it hard. Recognize that if something is possible and proper for a human being to do, you can do it too. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.19]

12 - even a frank life can be despised. Some people heap scorn on whatever they come close to. [Seneca,T17]

13 - Passions arise only when we are frustrated in our desires or faced with what we don’t want. [Epictetus D3.1]

14 - Let’s overlook many things in our fellow human beings, but keep our distance, without suspicion or ill will. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.20]

15 - It is better to be despised for one’s simplicity than to be burdened by endless hypocrisy. [Seneca,T17]

16 - I should not be unfeeling like a statue but should take care of my natural and acquired relationships – as a human being [Epictetus D3.2]

17 - If you can show me and prove to me that I am wrong in my thinking or in my actions, I will gladly change. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.21]

18 - There is a big difference between living simply and living carelessly. [Seneca,T17]

19 - The raw material for good human beings is their own mind – to respond to impressions the way intended by nature. [Epictetus D3.3]

20 - Truth doesn’t harm anyone. Persistent self-delusion and ignorance do. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.21]

21 - We should combine the two: solitude and being with people and alternate between them.The former will make us long for people and the latter for ourselves. [Seneca, T17]

22 - Assent to what is true, dissent from what is false, and suspend judgment when uncertain. [Epictetus D23.3]

23 - I do my duty. I am not interested in the rest. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.22]

24 - Solitude will cure us when we are sick of company, and company will cure us when we are sick of solitude. [Seneca, T17]

25 - To desire what is good, to reject what is bad, and be indifferent to what is neither. [Epictetus D3.3]

26 - Be generous and liberal with irrational animals, with material things.You can reason and they can’t. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.23]

27 - We should not keep our mind tense all the time.We should relax and turn towards amusement as well. [Seneca,T17]

28 - What is misfortune? An opinion. What is subversion, dissension, complaint, blame, accusation, or foolish talk? All mere opinions. [Epictetus D3.3]

29 - In death,Alexander the Great was no different from a stable boy. Both were absorbed by the universe the same way and dissolved into atoms. [Marcus Aurelius, M6.24]

30 - Our minds should relax.After rest, they will rise better and more vigorous. [Seneca,T17]

Note: D: Discourses; M: Meditations;T: On Tranquility

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