A passage from Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.17
✱
Of human life the time is a point, the substance flowing, the perception dull... The only thing that escorts a man on his way is philosophy.
Related passages
✱
Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains... But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself.
✱
At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work — as a human being.'
✱
Everything you're trying to reach — by taking the long way round — you could have right now, this moment. If you'd only stop thwarting your own attempts.