For all other obstacles either affect the body only, which is a dead thing; or, except through opinion and the yielding of the reason itself, they do not crush nor do any harm of any kind; for if they did, he who felt it would immediately become bad.
Marcus Aurelius reflects on the nature of external obstacles, asserting that true harm only arises from one's own judgment or the surrender of reason.
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As thou intendest to live when them art gone out, ... so it is in thy power to live here.
Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor the tranquillity which others give.
How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything which happens in life.
In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present,--I am rising to the work of a human being.
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