Q0023

Epictetus

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

It is not things that disturb people, but their judgments about things.
Thinker Epictetus
School Stoicism
Source Enchiridion 5
Theme Judgment
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Enchiridion 5, within the tradition of Stoicism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of judgment, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Epictetus's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Epictetus. (n.d.). It is not things that disturb people, but their judgments about things. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0023

MLA: Epictetus. “It is not things that disturb people, but….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0023.

Chicago: Epictetus. “It is not things that disturb people, but….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0023.

Same thinker

More from Epictetus

  1. Of things, some are in our power, and some are not.
  2. With whatever delights you, remind yourself of its nature — then if it is lost, you will not be disturbed.
  3. Remember that you are an actor in a play, of such a kind as the playwright may choose.
  4. The beginning of philosophy is a consciousness of one's own weakness and inability concerning necessary things.
  5. Do not seek for things to happen as you wish, but wish for things to happen as they do, and you will flow well.

All quotations by Epictetus

Same theme

More on judgment

  1. If you are distressed by anything external, it is not the thing itself that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it.
  2. Thinking is the habit of examining whatever happens to come to pass or to attract attention.
  3. Better a well-made head than a well-filled head.
  4. Nothing is miserable unless you think it so.
  5. The great method of ordering the world lies in discerning the times and gauging the situation.

Browse the judgment theme