This collection of take control of your life quotes can help you differentiate between what is and isn't in your power in life.
Once you can distinguish between what is and isn't in your control, you can start to focus your energy in directions that will truly help improve your life.
Before you can start to take control of your life, you need to differentiate between what is actually in your control and what is not. Once you have a firm grasp on what is in your control, you can start focusing your energy in a direction that will actually produce positive results.
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…”
“In our control is the most beautiful and important thing, the thing because of which even the god himself is happy— namely, the proper use of our impressions. We must concern ourselves absolutely with the things that are under our control and entrust the things not in our control to the universe.”
– Musonius Rufus
“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will.”
– Epictetus
“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.”
“Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing; not within our power are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever is not of our own doing.”
– Epictetus
“Why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice?”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can't control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.”
– Epictetus
“Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours.”
– Epictetus
“There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.”
– Plato
“Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.”
– Angelina Jolie
The Stoic dichotomy of control might seem pretty limiting at first. Once you realize just how impactful it can be to take charge of your own mind and those things that you have control over, it becomes clear that you are empowered with the ability to design and achieve the life you truly want.
“Man conquers the world by conquering himself.”
– Zeno of Citium
“Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.”
– Epictetus
“No matter what happens, it is within my power to turn it to my advantage.”
– Epictetus
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”
– Epictetus
“The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become.”
– Heraclitus
“Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself.”
– Pythagoras
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
– Laozi
“All of a sudden you realize that you are the person who has control of your life.”
– Jim Henson
“My message is simple: take control of your life.”
– Charles Barkley
“Only you can control your future.”
– Dr. Seuss
“For things to change, YOU have to change. For things to get better, YOU have to get better. For things to improve, YOU have to improve. When YOU grow, EVERYTHING in your life grows with you.”
– Jim Rohn
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”
– Jim Rohn
“The major key to your better future is you.”
– Jim Rohn
An important part of taking control of your life is watching and learning to control your own mind. Instead of wishing that external events were different, you can actively work to be in control of your thoughts, beliefs, words, actions, and reactions.
“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
– Epictetus
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Thoughts become perception, perception becomes reality. Alter your thoughts, alter your reality.”
– William James
“Rule your mind or it will rule you.”
– Horace
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
– William James
“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.”
– Abraham Maslow
“Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit.”
– Laozi
“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”
– William James
It’s terrifyingly easy to let our emotions drive us. Taking control of your life shouldn’t mean suppressing your emotions, but it does mean taking a bird’s eye look at your emotional states and learning to recognize and temper them.
“Our anger and annoyance are more detrimental to us than the things themselves which anger or annoy us.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Any person capable of angering you becomes your master.”
– Epictetus
“Both happiness and unhappiness depend on perception.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you.”
– Tony Robbins
“Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to know how to feel, how to respond, and how to let life in so that it can touch you.”
– Jim Rohn
Wisdom and self-control lie at the foundation of Stoic ethics– good exists in the state of the soul. In order to become wiser, we must not be driven by our ego but instead by a love of truth. We must seek to understand reality if we really want to take control of what we can control while also living virtuously.
“If you don't know, ask. You will be a fool for the moment, but a wise man for the rest of your life.”
– Seneca the Younger
“If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“He who seeks wisdom is a wise man; he who thinks he has found it is mad.”
– Seneca the Younger
“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
– Epictetus
“The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.”
– Laozi
“Our view of the world is truly shaped by what we decide to hear.”
– William James
The other side of the dichotomy of the control coin is that we do not have control over external events. While this might be distressing at first, working to look at reality squarely in the eye and embrace fate can allow you to have the courage and strength you need to take control of what you can control.
“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it. It is not the things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor are they what they seem to be. They are what they are.”
– Epictetus
“No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley.”
– Seneca the Younger
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
– Laozi
We often focus on extending the length of our lives at the expense of living a life of depth. If you want to take control of your life, why not do so with the goal of living nobly and virtuously? After all, according to the Stoics, virtue is the only good– it is both essential for living a good life and enough for living a good life.
“It is within the power of every man to live his life nobly, but of no man to live forever. Yet so many of us hope that life will go on forever, and so few aspire to live nobly.”
– Seneca the Younger
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Do not be wise in words - be wise in deeds.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in our life, living for other people and doing good for them.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquillity in our conduct.”
– Michel de Montaigne
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
– Benjamin Franklin
A necessary ingredient in taking control of your life is deciding that you are going to improve yourself– not until you reach some set goal, but for the rest of your days. Since we can’t change external events, we can change ourselves to become stronger, more courageous, wiser, and more just in our reactions to them.
“Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.”
– Epictetus
“Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom. The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become. Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.”
– Jim Rohn
“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself, if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.”
– Laozi
“We can consider the process of healthy growth to be a never ending series of free choice situations, confronting each individual at every point throughout his life, in which he must choose between the delights of safety and growth, dependence and independence, regression and progression, immaturity and maturity.”
– Abraham Maslow
“An investment in your personal development is the best investment you can make.”
– Jim Rohn
“To make the growth choice instead of the fear choice a dozen times a day is to move a dozen times a day towards self-actualisation.”
– Abraham Maslow
“What you become is far more important that what you get. What you get will be influenced by what you become.”
– Jim Rohn
“Every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts who stood their ground.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Once you know what you can control, it's time to get to work. Personal progress is something you work on every day for the rest of your life, so don't fret if you aren't pleased with your starting point. You'll be amazed at how far you can go within one lifetime.
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
– Epictetus
“If you don't change what you are doing today, all of your tomorrows will look like yesterday.”
– Jim Rohn
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
“If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.”
– Jim Rohn
“Once a decision is reached, stop worrying and start working.”
– William James
“There is nothing wrong with changing a plan when the situation has changed.”
“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
– Jim Rohn
“All of our life is but a mass of small habits - practical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual - that bear us irresistibly toward our destiny.”
“The smallest of disciplines, practiced every day, start an incredible process that can change our lives forever.”
– Jim Rohn
It's hard to take control of your life when you're surrounded by slackers. Make sure the people you're around are helping-- and not hurting-- your goal to design and achieve the life you want.
“When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one's energy, that one's modesty, another's generosity, and so on. Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we're practically showered with them. It's good to keep this in mind.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Be careful whom you associate with. It is human to imitate the habits of those with whom we interact. We inadvertently adopt their interests, their opinions, their values, and their habit of interpreting events.”
– Epictetus
“Retire into yourself as much as possible. Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one. People learn as they teach.”
– Seneca the Younger
Only when you truly recognize how valuable your time is can you take life seriously enough to take control of what you can control. Time is a nonrenewable resource. Make the best use of it you can.
“Think of all the years passed by in which you said to yourself "I'll do it tomorrow," and how the gods have again and again granted you periods of grace of which you have not availed yourself. It is time to realize that you are a member of the Universe, that you are born of Nature itself, and to know that a limit has been set to your time. Use every moment wisely, to perceive your inner refulgence, or 'twill be gone and nevermore within your reach.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time' is to say 'I don't want to.'”
– Laozi
“Days are expensive. When you spend a day you have one less day to spend. So make sure you spend each one wisely.”
– Jim Rohn
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
One of the things we can't control is what others think. Let go of others' opinions of you and strive to be the best person you can be.
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Don't be concerned with other people's impressions of you. They are dazzled and deluded by appearances. Stick with your purpose. This alone will strengthen your will and give your life coherence.”
– Epictetus
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do -- now.”
– Epictetus
“If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill... I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“One who believes in himself has no need to convince others.”
– Laozi
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”
– Laozi
“There are many roads to success, but only one sure road to failure; and that is to try to please everyone else.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Planning is essential for taking control of your life, but you can't do so at the expense of the present moment. If you want to really live a life you have control of, make use of the time you have right now.
“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”
– Seneca the Younger
“Give yourself a gift: the present moment.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Simplify your life. Don't waste the years struggling for things that are unimportant. Don't burden yourself with possessions. Keep your needs and wants simple and enjoy what you have. Don't destroy your peace of mind by looking back, worrying about the past. Live in the present. Simplify!”
– Henry David Thoreau
Few things are as effective at kicking us into gear as the realization that we are going to die someday. Meditating on death can help you both live in the moment and strive to achieve what you can while you're alive.
“Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“If you want your children and wife and friends to live forever, you’re a fool, because you’re wanting things that aren’t within your power to be within your power, and the things that aren’t your own to be your own.”
– Epictetus
“Live your life as if you are ready to say goodbye to it at any moment, as if the time left for you were some pleasant surprise.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“There are dreadful moments when death comes very near those we love, even if for the time being it passes by. But life is a great adventure, and the worst of all fears is the fear of living.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Why are you working to take control of your life? Are you doing so because you want to receive the admiration and applause of those around you? Or are you doing so because you want to pursue a deeply felt purpose?
When taking control of your life, don’t only focus on the mundane. Tap into your soul. Explore your inner reality. You might be surprised by what you find.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The lack of wealth is easily repaired but the poverty of the soul is irreplaceable.”
– Michel de Montaigne
“The real key to health and happiness and success is self knowledge.”
– Laozi
“Life isn’t about finding yourself; it’s about creating yourself. So live the life you imagined.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Finally, let's look at a few more quotes full of wisdom about taking control of your life, overcoming fear, exercising self-discipline, and more.
“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
– Jim Rohn
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.”
– Laozi
“The joy of living is his who has the heart to demand it. Life is a great adventure, and I want to say to you, accept it in such a spirit.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“Don't ask for security, ask for adventure. Better to live 30 years full of adventure than a 100 years safe in the corner.”
– Jim Rohn
“There is no illusion greater than fear.”
– Laozi
“The man without a purpose is a man who drifts at the mercy of random feelings or unidentified urges and is capable of any evil, because he is totally out of control of his own life. In order to be in control of your life, you have to have a purpose-a productive purpose.”
– Ayn Rand
“When the why gets stronger, the how gets easier.”
– Jim Rohn
“Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, 'Is this necessary?'”
– Marcus Aurelius
“No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don’t have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have.”
– Seneca the Younger
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
– Epictetus
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“You are what you are today because of the choices you made in the past.”
– Jim Rohn
“Think for yourself, or others will think for you without thinking of you.”
– Henry David Thoreau
“If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.”
– Benjamin Franklin
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“What we do in life ripples in eternity.”
– Marcus Aurelius
Are you searching for more inspiring quotes from some of the greatest minds in history? Be sure to check out our Stoic Quotes blog!
We encourage you to share this article on Twitter and Facebook. Just click those two links - you'll see why.
It's important to share the news to spread the truth. Most people won't.
