Only enter contests you control, and you're invincible.
Epictetus, Enchiridion 19
Only enter contests you control, and you're invincible.
Epictetus, Enchiridion 19
The source
"Only enter contests you control, and you're invincible." Epictetus said it in Enchiridion 19. Translated by George Long, 1877.
"You can be invincible, if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer"George Long, 1877, Enchiridion 19.
Who said it
Epictetus (c. 50–135 AD). Born enslaved, became the most influential Stoic teacher of his age. His student Arrian wrote down the Discourses and the Enchiridion.
Questions
- Who said "Only enter contests you control, and you're invincible."?
- Epictetus (c. 50–135 AD). Source: Enchiridion 19.
- What is the original wording?
- You can be invincible, if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer (George Long, 1877). Translated by George Long, 1877.
Filed under Grit.
Wear Epictetus
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Epictetus, Enchiridion 43
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I'll never be Milo. I still train.
Epictetus, Discourses 1.2.37
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More from Epictetus
- Some things are yours. Some aren't. Sort them first.Enchiridion 1
- To every scary thought: you're an appearance, not the real thing.Enchiridion 1
- Things don't upset people. Their opinions about things do.Enchiridion 5
- Rookies blame others. Learners blame themselves. Masters blame no one.Enchiridion 5
- Don't wish it went your way. Want it the way it goes, and flow.Enchiridion 8
- Never say "I lost it." Say "I gave it back."Enchiridion 11