Epictetus — "If a man does not know to what port he is sailing, no wind is favorable."
If a man does not know to what port he is sailing, no wind is favorable.
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More from Epictetus
"The greatest good is that which is chosen in spite of fear."
"Those proficient praise no one, blame no one, and accuse no one. They say nothing concerning their self as being anybody or knowing anything."
"He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at."
"Every difficulty in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and to invoke our own resources. The challenges to our spirit are not to be avoided, but embraced."
"Consider at what price you sell your integrity; but do not sell it for a small price."
About Epictetus (c. 50-135 CE)
Greek Stoic philosopher and former slave whose Discourses (recorded by his student Arrian) shaped Marcus Aurelius and the modern Stoic revival. Closely associated with Seneca (earlier Roman Stoic) and Marcus Aurelius (his student-by-text on the imperial throne). For an intellectual contrast, see Epicurus, Greek philosopher of pleasure-as-tranquility — the Stoic-Epicurean rivalry was the central philosophical debate of the Hellenistic and Roman world for 400 years — Epicurean materialist hedonism is the precise alternative the Stoic discipline-of-acceptance was built against.
The standard scholarly entry points to Epictetus's work: A.A. Long (UC Berkeley, Classics) — Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life (2002); Pierre Hadot (Collège de France) — Philosophy as a Way of Life (1995); Anthony R. Birley (Manchester, Roman historian) — Marcus Aurelius (1987) — the standard biography of Epictetus's most famous student. These are the works graduate seminars cite when teaching Epictetus.