Epictetus’s quote ‘It is difficulties that show what men are’ reveals why pressure, resilience and self-control shape character.

Illustration of Epictetus, with lamp and crutch, in Edward Ivie’s 1715 Latin translation of the Enchiridion. Source: Wikimedia Commons/William Sonmans/Public domain Stoic philosophy has exerted an ...

The first-century Stoic philosopher and teacher Epictetus was an enslaved person who succeeded in getting an education and, eventually, his freedom. Images of freedom, slavery and self-belonging ...

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher born into slavery in the first century CE, likely in Hierapolis in Phrygia, who later gained freedom, taught philosophy in Rome, and eventually founded a school ...

What does the quote mean? This quote by Epictetus captures a quiet but powerful truth about human nature: the biggest barrier to growth is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge. The quote ...

1. “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”2. “Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.”3. “It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” 4. ...