Marcus Aurelius: “Nor is his life incomplete when fate overtakes him, as one may say of an actor who leaves the stage before ending and…”

How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything which happens in life.

And the things which conduce in any way to the commodity of life, and of which fortune gives an abundant supply, he used without arrogance and without excusing himself; so that when he had them, he enjoyed them without affectation, and…

Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor the tranquillity which others give.

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…