In the intelligible [realm] we have real being which is stable and causal, eternal and true. In the material realm we have things which are constantly rising into existence but never really are; material things are effects of intelligible causes; they are temporal and in varying degrees deceptive unless their relation to real being, or ideas, is acknowledged. Much of the unspoken "philosophy" of our materialistic civilization implies that material things are real and abstract things are less real: this is a reversal of the true state of things according to the Platonic tradition.

Tim Addey, Beyond the Shadows

Begin therefore from little things. Is a little oil spilt? A little wine stolen? Say to yourself, "This is the price paid for equanimity, for tranquillity, and nothing is to be had for nothing."

Epictetus, The Handbook, 12

For all the Grecian theology is the progeny of the mystic tradition of Orpheus; Pythagoras first of all learning from Aglaophemus the orgies of the Gods, but Plato in the second place receiving an all-perfect science of the divinities from the Pythagoric and Orphic writings.

Proclus, On the Theology of Plato, Book I Chapter V

A basic prayer form with variations in detail arises from its function. At the beginning, underlined by the request 'Hear!', comes the name of the deity. Great importance is attached to finding the right name, especially appropriate epithets; as much as possible, epithets are heaped one upon another - a feature which probably also derives from Indo-European tradition - and the god is also offered the choice: 'With whatever name it pleases you to be called'. An attempt is also made to define the sphere of the god spatially by naming his favored dwelling place or several possible places from which he is to come. This is followed by a justification for calling on the god, in which earlier proofs of friendship are invoked by way of precedent: if ever the god has come to the aid of the suppliant, or if the suppliant has performed works pleasing to the god, has burned sacrifices and built temples, then this should now hold good. Often the assurance 'for you are able' is slipped in. Once contact has been established, the entreaty is made succinctly and clearly and is usually accompanied by the promise for the future, the vow; piety is supposed to guarantee constancy. Philosophically refined religious sensibility later took exception to the self-interested directness of the euchai; one should, it was recommended, pray simply for the Good and leave the decision to the god.

Walter Burkert, Greek Religion, II.3

A cult image or sanctuary must always be given a friendly greeting - a chaire - even if one is simply passing by without any special reason, or else the gesture of a kiss may be made by raising a hand to one's lips; a short, simple prayer may always be added.

Burkert, Greek Religion, II.3

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself.

Epictetus, The Handbook, 13

"One day, at dawn, he started thinking about some problem or other; he just stood outside, trying to figure it out. He couldn’t resolve it, but he wouldn’t give up. He simply stood there, glued to the same spot. By midday, many soldiers had seen him, and, quite mystified, they told everyone that Socrates had been standing there all day, thinking about something. He was still there when evening came, and after dinner some Ionians moved their bedding outside, where it was cooler and more comfortable (all this took place in the summer), but mainly in order to watch if Socrates was going to stay out there all night. And so he did; he stood on the very same spot until dawn! He only left next morning, when the sun came out, and he made his prayers to the new day."

Plato, Symposium 220c-d

Here as well as in Hesiod etc we have an account of prayers being made at dawn. I included the context because it’s amusing.

If you wish your children, and your wife, and your friends to live for ever, you are stupid; for you wish to be in control of things which you cannot. ... But, if you wish to have your desires undisappointed, this is in your own control. Exercise, therefore, what is in your control.

Epictetus, The Handbook, 14

The perfection of the soul will correct the depravity of the body; but the strength of the body without reasoning does not render the soul better.

The Golden Sentences of Democrates

But for the young man, still
In glorious prime, it is all beautiful:
Alive, he draws men’s eyes and women’s hearts;
Felled in the front line, he is lovely yet.
Let every man then, feet set firm apart,
Bite on his lip and stand against the foe.
But Heracles unvanquished sowed your stock:
Take heart! Zeus bows not yet beneath the yoke.
Fear not the throng of men, turn not to flight,
But straight toward the front line bear your shields,
Despising life and welcoming the dark
Contingencies of death like shafts of sun.

Tyrtaeus

Since we are supposed to greet each day with prayer, an excellent Golden Verse to start the day:

“Never begin to set your hand to any work, until you have first prayed the gods to accomplish what you are going to begin.” Golden Verses of Pythagoras, 48

My friend, there are two patterns set up in reality. One is divine and supremely happy; the other has nothing of God in it, and is the pattern of the deepest unhappiness. This truth the evildoer does not see; blinded by folly and utter lack of understanding, he fails to perceive that the effect of his unjust practices is to make him grow more and more like the one, and less and less like the other. For this he pays the penalty of living the life that corresponds to the pattern he is coming to resemble. And if we tell him that unless he is delivered from this ‘ability’ of his, when he dies the place that is pure of all evil will not receive him; that he will forever go on living in this world a life after his own likeness - a bad man tied to bad company; he will but think, ‘This is the way fools talk to a clever rascal like me.’

Plato, Theaetetus, 176e - 177a

Remember that you must behave in life as at a dinner party. Is anything brought around to you? Put out your hand and take your share with moderation. Does it pass by you? Don't stop it. Is it not yet come? Don't stretch your desire towards it, but wait till it reaches you. Do this with regard to children, to a wife, to public posts, to riches, and you will eventually be a worthy partner of the feasts of the gods. And if you don't even take the things which are set before you, but are able even to reject them, then you will not only be a partner at the feasts of the gods, but also of their empire. For, by doing this, Diogenes, Heraclitus and others like them, deservedly became, and were called, divine.

Epictetus, The Handbook, 15

But be careful this does not become a self-absorbed attempt to avoid pain. The focus is, and should always be, on imitation of the divine so that we can thereby aid divinity in demiurgic Ordering of the cosmos.

What is that which always is and has no becoming, and what is that which becomes but never is?

Plato, Timaeus, 27d

It is not the particular situation that distresses you but your own judgment about it.

(Cf. Epictetus, The Handbook, 16)

Sex and food are the two most magnetic desirables in human (animal) life.

But “every pleasure or pain provides another nail to rivet the soul to the body and to weld them together” (Plato, Phaedo, 83d).

This is not to say that sex and food are bad (they aren’t), but that you should never be overtaken by desire for them.

Do not watch porn. Do not have hookups. Do not eat junk food. Do not eat more than you need to eat.

Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one. If it is his pleasure you should act a poor man, a cripple, a governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally. For this is your business, to act well the character assigned you; to choose it is another's.

Epictetus, The Handbook, 17

Some gods are cosmic, and some gods are hypercosmic.

Cosmic gods make (or maintain) the cosmos.
Some make the world be.
Some animate the world.
Some harmonize the world.
Some maintain the world.

Since there are four classes of cosmic god, and since for each of these classes there is a beginning, a middle, and an end, there must be twelve cosmic gods.

Makers of the world: Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestus.
Animators of the world: Demeter, Hera, Artemis.
Harmonizers of the world: Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes.
Watchers or maintainers of the world: Hestia, Athena, Ares.

Hypercosmic gods create essence, mind, or soul.

See Sallust's On the Gods and the World, VI.

But to me all omens are lucky, if I will. For whichever of these things happens, it is in my control to derive advantage from it.

Epictetus, The Handbook, 18
(Part of an ongoing series of Neoplatonic introductory materials used historically.)