"[W]e are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." - Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers from Ptahhotep to Sartre
This is Durant explaining Aristotle's conception of excellence of character.
'The first great distinction of Aristotle is that almost without predecessors, almost entirely by his own hard thinking, he created a new science - Logic." - Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers from Ptahhotep to Sartre
"It is unjust to complain that what may happen to anyone has happened to someone." - Montaigne, "Of Experience" (1580)
Via The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User's Manual by Ward Farnsworth
In other words, there is no point in moaning, "why me?" when something we prefer not to happen has happened to us.
"The best way to avenge yourself is not to become as they are." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
I was once a fortunate man but at some point fortune abandoned me.
But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, good actions.
"Aristotle had spent money lavishly in the collection of books (that is, in those printless days, manuscripts); he was the first, after Euripides, to gather a library; and the foundation of the principles of library classification was among his many contributions to scholarship. Therefore, Plato spoke of Aristotle's home as 'the house of the reader,' and seems to have meant the sincerest compliment" - Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers from Ptahhotep to Sartre
"In our daily activities all of us are confronted with other people and often with those whom we would rather avoid. These are our challenges, lessons, and tests. If we consider them in that manner, we won't be so irritated by these experiences, nor will we be so apt to think, 'I wish this wasn't happening,' or 'I wish he'd go away,' or 'I wish he would never say another word,' thereby creating pain and grief for ourselves. When we realize that such a confrontation is exactly what we need at that moment in order to overcome resistance and negativity and to substitute loving-kindness for those emotions, then we will be grateful for the opportunity. Eventually we will find (mostly in retrospect, of course) that we can be very grateful to those people who have made life most difficult for us." - Ayya Khema, Know Where You're Going: A Complete Buddhist Guide to Meditation, Faith, and Everyday Transcendence
I'm reminded of Epictetus: "[The] man who insults me ... becomes my training partner; he trains me in patience, in abstaining from anger, in remaining gentle."
"[W]hatever you do, do it with this in mind, that you should do it as a good person ought, according to the specific conception that you have formed of what it means to be good. And hold to this in all that you undertake." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
"Hasten, then, towards your goal, and dismissing idle hopes, come to your own rescue, if you have any care for yourself, while it is still possible." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
"Here is the weakest point in Buddha's philosophy; he never quite faces the contradiction between his rationalistic psychology and his uncritical acceptance of reincarnation." - Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers from Ptahhotep to Sartre
"So other people hurt me? That's their problem. Their character and actions are not mine." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
