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1– Joseph Addison, 3 Elements of Happiness
2– Douglas Bader, Handicaps
3– Charles A. Beard, Man's Purpose
4– John Bogle , Investing
5– Bertolt Brecht, Initiative
6– Robert Browning , Making the Effort
7– Giordano Bruno, Conviction
8– Edmund Burke, Doing the Right Thing
9– Albert Camus, Hope
10– Thomas Carlyle, Making a Difference
11– Dale Carnegie, Showing Appreciation
12– Winston Churchill, Courage and Listening
13– Marcus Tullius Cicero, Suspicions
14– Arthur Compton, Advantages of Modern Life
15– Kevin Costner, Staying True to Yourself
16– Bette Davis, Creativity and Money
17– Jefferson Davis, Subservience and Pride
18– Charles Dickens, The Ends Don't Justify the Means
19– George Eliot, Regrets
20– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Actions Speak Louder Than Words
21– Epictetus, Becoming Your Best Self
22– Malcolm Forbes, Character
23– Harrison Ford, Success and Individuality
24– Benjamin Franklin, Self-esteem vs. Popularity
25– Thomas Fuller, Hope
26– Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Happiness and Harmony
27– Romain Gary, Humor and Dignity
28– Douglas Haig, No Surrender
29– Ernest Hemingway, Pressure
30– Victor Hugo, Obscure Struggles
31– Zora Neale Hurston, Making the Effort
32– Washington Irving, Women and Adversity
33– William James, Attitude
34– Thomas Jefferson, Style Vs Principle
35– Helen Keller, Changing the World
36– Robert F. Kennedy, Effort
37– Martin Luther King, Jr., Pride in Work
38– Charles Kingsley, Value of Work
39– Abraham Lincoln, Daily Life
40– Vince Lombardi, Resilience
41– George Leigh Mallory, Challenge
42– Abraham Maslow, Fulfillment Through Work
43– David McKay, Challenge
44– Friedrich Nietzsche, Self-Respect
45– Louis Nizer, Religion
46– Thomas Paine, Profiting from Adversity
47– Louis Pasteur, Ideals
48– Alexander Pope, Admitting Mistakes
49– Christopher Reeve, Dreams
50– Eleanor Roosevelt, Confronting Fear
51– Franklin D. Roosevelt, Happiness and Achievement
52– Theodore Roosevelt, No Excuses
53– E. Merrill Root, Work and Happiness
54– John Ruskin, Learning from Others
55– George Santayana, Lovers and Philosophers
56– William Shakespeare, Be Yourself
57– George Bernard Shaw, Creating Opportunity
58– John Steinbeck, Leadership
59– Robert Louis Stevenson, Potential
60– Thomas Szasz, Finding Yourself
61– Leo Tolstoy, What is Art?
62– Anthony Trollope, Against the Odds
63– Wang Yang-ming, Mistakes
64– Booker T. Washington, Rising Above Hatred
65– Hugh White, Focus on the Future
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Becoming Your Best Self
Epictetus |
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"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do." |
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Epictetus (55 - 135), Roman Philosopher |
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The best-known proponent of Stoicism during the Roman Empire, Epictetus was known for practicing what he preached – simplicity and virtue as a path to contentment. Like many of the ancient philosophers, he was a lecturer, not a writer: the "Discourses" which are attributed to him were lectures transcribed by one of his students. His primary concern was ethics, and he believed that the only thing which truly belonged to an individual was his will, or purpose. While an individual could and should control his actions (but not thoughts), he should not attempt to control the world around him – Epictetus believed in accepting that world. Man’s responsibility is to learn and implement the will of God, a point of view that made Epictetus quite popular with early Christians.
Epictetus was born a slave; it is not known how he gained his freedom. He lived in a small hut with only a bed and a lamp for furnishings, and adopted a child who had been given up by an impoverished friend. He suffered from poor health. Epictetus lived in various places throughout the Roman Empire, and had to leave Rome in the year 89 due to a decree by the Emperor Domitian banishing all philosophers. He spent the rest of his life in Greece.
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| Copyright by John F. Groom, All Rights Reserved |
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