Daily Inspiration Quote by Epictetus

Ambition, Epictetus implies, is cheap until it chooses its objects. The line reads like a gentle self-help maxim, but it’s a hard Stoic sorting mechanism: not everything worth doing is worthy of your soul. “Desires to excel” isn’t applause-chasing; it’s moral aspiration. And “those things that are in themselves most excellent” is a quiet jab at the common way people pursue distinction-by attaching their hunger for superiority to status games, trivia, and the glittering but flimsy prizes of public opinion.

The intent is corrective. Epictetus is arguing that excellence can’t be manufactured by willpower alone; it’s downstream of where you place your effort. You don’t become admirable by optimizing the wrong goals. Under the hood is a Stoic hierarchy: some pursuits are intrinsically good because they cultivate virtue (judgment, self-command, fairness), while others are “indifferent” (wealth, reputation, even certain talents) because they can be used well or badly and depend on forces outside your control. If you aim at externals, you’ll still be anxious, because the scoreboard isn’t yours. If you aim at virtue, “excellence” becomes something sturdier: an internal standard that can’t be confiscated by bad luck or hostile crowds.

Context matters: Epictetus was a former enslaved person turned teacher in imperial Rome, speaking to students tempted by prestige and careerism. His philosophy isn’t airy idealism; it’s survival-grade clarity. Choose pursuits that remain excellent even when no one’s watching, even when the empire shrugs. The subtext is almost accusatory: if your life feels scattered, it’s not because you lack drive. It’s because you’ve been chasing things that aren’t excellent in themselves.