In the application of thy principles thou must be like the pancratiast, not like the gladiator; for the gladiator lets fall the sword which he uses and is killed; but the other always has his hand, and needs to do nothing else than use it.
In his private writings, Marcus Aurelius advises on the steadfast application of one's principles, comparing it to the self-reliance of a pancratiast.
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And how small a part of the whole substance; and how small a part of the universal soul; and on what a small clod of the whole earth thou creepest!
What remains, except to enjoy life by joining one good thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest intervals between?
But it is inconsistent with honoring reason and God to be troubled because by death a man will be deprived of the other things.
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