The cause of this irritation is me

 

"For there are two rules to keep at the ready—-that there is nothing good or bad outside my own reasoned choice, and that we shouldn't try to lead events but to follow them."

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.10.18

In the mid-twentieth century, there was an Indian Jesuit priest nam Anthony de Mello. Born in Bombay when it was still under British control, de Mello was an amalgam of many different cultures a perspectives: East, West; he even trained as a psychotherapist. Here is a quote from de Mello's book, The Way Love, that sounds almost exactly like Epictetus:

"The cause of my irritation is not in this person but in me."

Remember, each individual has a choice. You are always the on control. The cause of irritation-or our notion that something is bad that comes from us, from our labels or our expectations. Just as easily we can change those labels; we can change our entitlement and decide to accept and love what's happening around us. 

From the bro Stoic book I read on Mike Palmquist's desk.