“Your character belongs to you; your reputation belongs to other people, who have their own interests at heart, and they use it to control you, not to depict you.”

“Your reputation is in the hands of others. That's what the reputation is. You can't control that. The only thing you can control is your character.”

“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our actions. The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered; but those not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to others. Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also free, and that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered. You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be harmed.”

“Don’t use your conscious past. Use your creative imagination to create a past that belongs to your character. I don’t want you to be stuck with your own life. It’s too little.”

“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, for your character is what you are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

“Worry more about your character than your reputation. Character is what you are, reputation merely what others think you are.”