In the face of the demands of the state for outward conformity, freedom can only be found by retreating into oneself, by taking refuge in a philosophy such as Stoicism, Epicureanism, or Scepticism. The details of these opposing philosophical schools need not concern us here; what is important is their common tendency to pooh-pooh everything that the real world has to offer – riches, political power, worldly glory – and to substitute an ideal of living which makes the adherent absolutely indifferent to anything the outside world can do.
