Quote by Epictetus: “Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.”

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Epictetus taught during the reigns of the Roman emperors Domitian and Trajan, a period that shifted between tyranny and relative stability. Having lived as a slave, his philosophy of inner freedom carried personal weight — he knew what it meant to control nothing external and everything internal.

Greek Stoic philosopher born into slavery in the Roman Empire who became one of the most influential moral philosophers of antiquity. His teachings, recorded by his student Arrian in the Enchiridion and the Discourses, form the practical core of Stoic philosophy.