"The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests."
— Epictetus

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026
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SlavesPhilosophers from GreeceStoics
Original Language: English

Sources

This quote is frequently attributed to Epictetus, e.g. by Brigid Delaney, How not to panic during the coronavirus pandemic: welcome hard times like a Stoic, The Guardian, 17 March 2020. The quote is also frequently attributed to Epicurus. In fact this quotation first appears as two separated sentences in "An Essay on the Vindication of Epicurus and his Doctrine" (1712) by Charles de Saint-Évremond: "the greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. ... Skilful pilots gain their reputa