1 Not much is needed to destroy and upset everything – just a slight deviation from reason will do. A captain needs less skill to overturn a ship than to keep it safe. [Epictetus D4.2]

2 The art of life is more like wrestling than dancing. It demands that you stand ready and firm to face sudden and unexpected attacks. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.61]

3 What is more affectionate to others than a human being? Yet, what is more brutal against them than anger? [Seneca, A1.5]

4 Pay attention to your sense impressions. Be awake and watch over them. It is no small thing that you are guarding – you are guarding self-respect, fidelity, constancy, a tranquil mind [Epictetus D4.2]

5 Look at the people whose approval you seek and understand what their ruling principles are. If you do that, you won’t blame them for their misjudgments. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.62]

6 Humankind is born for mutual assistance, anger for mutual ruin. [Seneca, A1.5]

7 I have modest behaviour; he has a high office. I have self-respect; he has the office of the magistrate. I don’t shout when it is not called for. I don’t stand up when I should not. For I am a free man. [Epictetus D4.2]

8 They say that no one intentionally wants to cut off their soul from truth. The same holds true for justice, self-control, kindliness, or any other virtue. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.63]

9 Anger, as we have said, is eager to punish. That such a desire should exist in a person’s peaceful heart is least of all according to their nature. [Seneca, A1.5]

10 In everything you do, guard your own good. As for the rest, be happy to take things as they come and use them rationally. [Epictetus D4.2]

11 When you are in pain, immediately remind yourself of this... It does not damage your mind, which suffers no harm. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.64]

12 Human life is founded on benefits and harmony and is bound together into a partnership for the collective help of all. Not by terror, but by love towards one another. [Seneca, A1.5]

13 A desire for money and power makes you miserable and submissive to others. [Epictetus D4.3]

14 Many things you find uncomfortable – such as drowsiness, fever, loss of appetite – are of the same nature as pain. When you are bothered by any of these, tell yourself that you are giving into pain. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.64]

15 “What, then? Is not correction sometimes necessary?” Of course, it is – but with caution, not with anger. [Seneca, A1.6]

16 It makes little difference whether you want to be a senator or not want to be one; whether you want to hold office or not want to hold office [Epictetus D4.3]

17 When people act in inhuman ways, make sure you don’t feel the same way towards them as they do towards others. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.65]

18 … reserve severe penalties only for outrageous crimes, making sure that no one dies, even if the criminal thinks he should die. [Seneca, A1.6]

19 Judged by proper standards, reading should lead you to peace. If it doesn’t, what good is it? [Epictetus D4.3]

20 Nature has not blended your body and mind so inseparably that your mind cannot establish its own boundaries and control its domain. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.67]

21 Human nature does not want to punish. Therefore, anger is not in accordance with human nature because anger intends to punish. [Seneca, A1.6]

22 True peace of mind is continuous and undisturbed [Epictetus D4.3]

23 It is perfectly possible to be godlike without anyone realizing it. Remember this. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.67]

24 Anger is not natural to human beings. [Seneca, A1.6]

25 Act confidently but also with restraint; and without desire or aversion regarding externals. [Epictetus D4.3]

26 You need very few things to be happy. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.67]

27 The mind, once excited and shaken, goes where passions drive it. [Seneca, A1.7]

28 Where you are enthusiastic about something, there you are bound to face obstacles. You desire what is not under your control? Be prepared to be obstructed, to be frustrated, and to fail. [Epictetus D4.3]

29 You don’t have to give up your hopes of achieving freedom, selfrespect, unselfishness, and obeying God, just because you are not an expert on dialectics or physics. [Marcus Aurelius, M7.67]

30 The mind, once it gives itself to anger, love, or any other passion, has no chance to check its momentum. Its weight and the downward slide of vices get hold of it and pull it down to the bottom. [Seneca, A1.7]

D: Discourses. M: Meditations. A: On Anger

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