The third, then, is the ruling part; consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer be either dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from the future.
From his personal reflections, on asserting the mind's control over one's actions and emotional state, especially in old age.
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More from Marcus Aurelius
How quickly all things disappear,--in the universe the bodies themselves, but in time the remembrance of them.
But if there is a providence which allows itself to be propitiated, make thyself worthy of the help of the divinity.
Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a kind providence, or a confusion without a purpose and without a director (iv. 27).
For every judgment and movement and desire and aversion is within, and no evil ascends so high.
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