The complete collection

All quotes

Every quote we hold, 2473 of them from 233 people across 1123 works. Filter it, sort it, and follow any citation back to the source.
2418 checked at source

Filter the collection

1
The secret of calm cheerfulness is kindliness; no person can be consistently cheerful and calm who does not consistently think kind thoughts.
6
Cease your complaining and fretting; none of these things which you blame are the cause of your poverty; the cause is within yourself, and where the cause is, there is the remedy.
13
Yet is it far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness.

Wrongly attributed

Adlai Stevenson used a version of this in his eulogy for Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962, and it has been hers ever since; it is also sold as Confucius and as an old Chinese proverb. It is neither. It is W. L. Watkinson, the English Methodist preacher, in a sermon called The Invincible Strategy, printed in 1907 -- and he presents it as a saying already in circulation rather than as his own coinage. What is certain is that this is the earliest printed appearance anybody has produced, and it predates Roosevelt's public life.

14
It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who has begun to be instructed, to lay the blame on himself; and of one whose instruction is completed, neither to blame another, nor himself.

Attribution contested

The fifth maxim is the source of the modern slogan it is not what happens to you but how you react to it, which translates nothing Epictetus wrote and has no attested author. The paraphrase stops halfway. Epictetus opens by saying men are disturbed by their opinions about things rather than by the things, but he ends here -- taking the blame yourself is only the middle stage, and the finished man blames nobody at all.

15
The way certain people behave has a lot more to do with their thoughts than you. Maturity is to not engage with them when they try to provoke you. Their power lies in your response. Reject their invitation to conflict with indifference. Guard your peace. Your health is important.

Unverified attribution

Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown.

16
There is no benefit in seeking revenge. It's like glueing yourself to a situation that reminds you of deep pain and blocks your progress towards something better. If they hurt you, leave them to karma. Don't give them room in your mind any further. Focus on healing and moving on.

Unverified attribution

Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown.

17
True power is in ability to stay calm when someone tries to trigger you. If their actions and words don't bother you, they lose any power they want to hold over you. Stay unshakeable. Your indifference is the message they need.

Unverified attribution

Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown. This is a complete-sentence excerpt of the supplied transcription.

© 2026 Just Brands, LLC