Consolations From A Stoic: De Consolatione ad Marciam, De Consolatione ad Polybium and De Consolatione ad Helviam (Illustrated) (Stoics In Their Own Words Book 7)

by Seneca

neither does; a calm sea and fair wind display the art of the pilot; some foul weather is wanted to prove his courage.

Let us, then, steer our own course, and no longer allow ourselves to be driven to leeward by the force of our misfortune. He is a sorry pilot who lets the waves wring his rudder from his grasp, who leaves the sails to fly loose, and abandons the ship to the storm: but he who boldly grasps the helm and clings to it until the sea closes over him, deserves praise even though he be shipwrecked.

but by looking forward to the coming of our sorrows we take the sting out of them when they come.

Whatever gift Fortune bestows upon a man, let him think while he enjoys it, that it will prove as fickle as the goddess from whom it came. Snatch what pleasure you can from your children, allow your children in their turn to take pleasure in your society, and drain every pleasure to the dregs without any delay. We cannot reckon on tonight, nay, I have allowed too long a delay, we cannot reckon on this hour: we most make haste: the enemy presses on behind us: soon that society of yours will be broken up, that pleasant company will be taken by assault and dispersed. Pillage is the universal law: unhappy creatures, know you not that life is but a flight?