Quotes I've found interesting

No role is so well suited to philosophy as the one you happen to be in right now.

Marcus Aurelius  

We are wrong to think that death is ahead of us. Much of our life has already passed. The years we have lived so far are in death's hands.

Seneca,   Moral Letters 1

Don't just say that you have read books.  Show that through them you have learned to think better.

Epictetus  

If you’ve lost your job, if you went through a painful breakup, if you’ve been forced to start over, if your sandcastle or your ship has been swallowed up—congratulations, you’ve been gifted a remarkable opportunity. You get to choose the life you want to build. Well done, Fortune, to drive you thus to the life you’ve always wanted.

Ryan Holiday,   Daily Stoic Email, 8/10/2021

Deliberately designing one’s life isn’t only possible. It’s imperative.

@intentionally,   Twitter

Burnout isn't the number of hours you work. It's too much effort on things that are against your core interests and values.

Sarah Drasner,   Twitter

When change comes, you can scream and try to force things to stay the same. But you usually end up getting trampled. However, if you can direct the changes, they can serve you.

Brandon Sanderson,   Towers of Midnight

Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self-respect springs.

Joan Didion,   Slouching Towards Bethlehem

A very small part of an historical piece of fiction I stumbled upon: the hero goes through a prison. He crosses path with a very secondary character locked behind bars that say to him: "Hero, I envy you to go on adventures while I rot here in prison with a life sentence. I deserved it but now my life is useless, I'll spend it here in this small cell, there's no point to it." Poor man. He can't have a family, accumulate wealth or be useful to his community. The hero then tranquillises him: "Don't worry friend, because even in prison you can still practice and live a virtuous life."

@aka457,   Reddit

He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary.

Seneca