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A question

What can I control?

The most practical question in philosophy: separating what is yours — judgments, choices, effort — from what is not, so effort lands where it changes things.

5 perspectives

  1. Epictetus

    Hierapolis → Rome → Nicopolis

    Some things are up to us, some are not; peace lies in knowing which

    “It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Enchiridion (paraphrase of ch. 5)

  2. Marcus Aurelius

    Rome

    You have power over your mind, not outside events

    “You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Meditations (popular compilation of Med. 8.8 / 12.22 themes)

  3. Seneca

    Cordoba → Rome

    We are not given a short life; we make it short

    “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” — On the Shortness of Life, ch. 1

  4. Omar Khayyam

    Nishapur

    The present is the only possession: the rest is memory or guess

    “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” — Rubaiyat (FitzGerald translation tradition; attributed in Persian sources)

  5. Baruch Spinoza

    Amsterdam

    There is one substance: God, or nature

    “Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.” — attributed maxim, reported by later writers