Can what happened to you
stop you from being fair, high-minded,
moderate, conscientious, unhasty, honest, moral,
self-reliant, and so on — from possessing all the qualities that,
when present, enable a man’s nature to be fulfilled? So then,
whenever something happens that might cause you
distress, remember to rely on this principle:
this is not bad luck, but bearing it
valiantly is good luck.
If you find anything
better in human life than justice,
honesty, moderation and courage — if,
to put it generally, you find anything better
than the self-sufficiency of your mind on those
occasions that your actions are compatible with
right reason, as well as when something is allotted
to you by fate without your having chosen it —
if, I say, you’re aware of anything better
than this, turn to it with all your heart
and enjoy the supreme good
you’ve discovered.
But if you find
nothing better than the
guardian spirit lodged within you,
which has brought all your particular
impulses under its control, which scrutinizes
your thoughts, which, as Socrates used to say, has
withdrawn itself from sensations, which has put itself
in the gods’ hands, and which cared providentially for
other people — if everything else turns out to be
trivial and worthless by comparison,
then make room for
nothing else.
How much freedom
is gained if a man ignores what
his neighbor said or did or intended
and considers only what he himself is doing
and how to make his actions just and right, the
kind of things a good man would do! Don’t let
your attention be caught by the darkness
of others’ movements; just run straight
on the line, with no ungainly
movements.
Keep practicing even when
there seems no hope
of success.
Wherever you find yourself,
it’s within your power, at every moment,
to be reverently content with your present circumstances,
to behave with justice toward the people who are presently around you,
and to manage your present impressions so that nothing
slips into your mind that you haven’t
adequately grasped.