Shadowing Practice: Epictetus - LIFE CHANGING Quotes - STOICISM - Learn English Speaking with Video
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If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you,
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but answer, he was ignorant to my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.
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Only the educated are free.
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It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
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We have two ears and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
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Truth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
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Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.
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First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.
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There is only one way to happiness and
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that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
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If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
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No man is free who is not master of himself.
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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
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Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.
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There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
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The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
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It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
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He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.
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Other people's views and troubles can be contagious.
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Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.
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Freedom is the only worthy goal in life.
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It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.
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Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself.
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It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.
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People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them.
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To accuse others for one's own misfortune is a sign of want of education.
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To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun.
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To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.
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You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.
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I laugh at those who think they can damage me.
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They do not know who I am.
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They do not know what I think.
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They cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live.
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First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
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Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do.
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Hold to your true aspirations, no matter what is going on around you.
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The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.
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Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
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No man is free who is not master of himself.
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He is a wise man who does not grieve for things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
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Seek not the good in external things, seek it in yourselves.
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Do not try to seem wise to others.
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Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you.
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A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.
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Know first who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
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If you would be a reader, read.
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If a writer, write.
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Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment.
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Just who is the rich man?
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Epictetus replied, he who is content.
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Either God wants to abolish evil and cannot, or he can but does not want to.
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We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.
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Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?
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It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, and to live with a troubled spirit amid abundance.
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Small-minded people blame others.
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Average people blame themselves.
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The wise see all blame as foolishness.
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Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life Instead of one that is longer but of less count
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No great thing is created suddenly Men are not afraid of things but of how they view them
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If someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against the accusations, but reply, you obviously don't know about my other vices,
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otherwise you would have mentioned these as well.
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On the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.
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You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will.
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Difficulty shows what men are.
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No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig.
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If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer that there must be time.
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Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
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Keep the prospect of death, exile, and all such apparent tragedies before you every day,
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especially death, and you will never have an abject thought or desire anything to excess.
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A pictotus being asked how a man should give pain to his enemy
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answered by preparing himself to live the best life that he can.
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What concerns me is not the way things are, but the way people think things are.
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Don't live by your own rules, but in harmony with nature.
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The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live
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that his happiness shall depend as as little as possible on external things.
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Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality whose example you determine to follow in private as well as in public.
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Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.
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If you would cure anger, do not feed it.
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Say to yourself, I used to be angry every day, then every other day, now only every third or fourth day.
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When you reach 30 days, offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods.
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If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things.
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Don't wish to be thought to know anything, and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself.
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For it is difficult to both keep your faculty of choice in a state comfortable to nature, and at the same time acquire external things.
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But while you are careful about one, you must of necessity neglect the other.
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Any person capable of angering you becomes your master.
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He can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.
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If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you,
88
but answer, he was ignorant to my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.
89
Only the educated are free.
90
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
91
We have two ears and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
92
Love consists not in having great possessions, but in having few ones.
93
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.
94
First, say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.
95
There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
96
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
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No man is free who is not master of himself.
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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 98 sentences and 1347 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:10. The speaker talks slowly, about 95 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- disturb /dɪˈstɜːb/ (verb) — to confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow, in particular: thoughts, actions or liquids.
- happiness /ˈhæpinɪs/ (noun) — The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.
- anger /ˈæŋɡə/ (noun) — A strong and unpleasant feeling of displeasure, hostility, or antagonism, usually combined with an urge to yell, curse, damage or destroy things, or harm…
- react /ɹiːˈækt/ (verb) — To act in response.
- cease /sis/ (verb) — To stop.
- foolish /ˈfuː.lɪʃ/ (adjective) — Lacking good sense or judgement as a general trait; unwise; stupid.
- accuse /əˈkjuz/ (verb) — To find fault with, blame, censure.
- ear /ˈɪə̯/ (noun) — The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
- sake /ˈseɪ̯k/ (noun) — Cause, interest or account.
- possession /pəˈzɛʃn̩/ (noun) — A control or occupancy of something for which one does not necessarily have private property rights.
- difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/ (noun) — The state of being difficult, or hard to do.
- ignorant /ˈɪɡ.nə.ɹənt/ (adjective) — Unknowledgeable or uneducated; characterized by ignorance.
- consist /kənˈsɪst/ (noun) — A lineup or sequence of railroad carriages or cars, with or without a locomotive, that form a unit.
- educate /ˈɛd͡ʒ.əˌkeɪt/ (verb) — To instruct or train.
- regardless /ɹɪˈɡɑɹd.lɪs/ (adverb) — Without attention to warnings or indications of bad consequences.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- go on /ˈɡoʊˌɒn/ (verb) — To continue in extent.
- live with (verb) — To share an abode as an unmarried partner in a sexual relationship.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: worthy /ˈwɝ.ði/, thanksgiving /ˌθæŋksˈɡɪv.ɪŋ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: foolish /ˈfuː.lɪʃ/, possession /pəˈzɛʃn̩/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, occasion /əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/, sabotage /ˈsæb.əˌtɑʒ/
- Long words — get the stress right: difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, superior /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, considerable /kənˈsɪdəɹəbl̩/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like disturb, happiness, anger.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is said · are disturbed · be thought |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | things which are · man who does · people who uplift |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.