It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man.
- Source
- Discourses, 1.24, trans. George Long
- Written
- early 2nd century AD
About this quotation
Epictetus wrote nothing himself: his lectures at Nicopolis were recorded by his pupil Arrian, who published the Discourses. He goes on to say that a wrestler wins an Olympic crown only through sweat, and that hardship is the training that earns it.