Fate & Acceptance

Your present opinion founded on understanding, your present conduct directed to social good, your present disposition contented with everything that happens — that is enough.

He who acts unjustly acts impiously. For since the universal nature has made rational animals for the sake of one another, he who acts contrary to nature commits impiety against the highest divinity.

This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole, and what is my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of a part it is of what kind of a whole.

Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from all eternity; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being.

All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy... For there is one common world made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things.

Nothing happens to any thing which that thing is not made by nature to bear.

Do not despise death, but be well content with it, since this too is one of those things which nature wills.

Love the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be content with it; and pass through the rest of life like one who has intrusted to the gods with his whole soul all that he has.

Either the gods have no power or they have power. If, then, they have no power, why dost thou pray to them? But if they have power, why dost thou not pray for them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest?

Everything which happens either happens in such wise as thou art formed by nature to bear it, or as thou art not formed by nature to bear it. If, then, it happens to thee in such way as thou art formed by nature to bear it, do not complain, but bear it as thou art formed by nature to bear it.

Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God.

It is enough to remember that the limit which is best for each thing is that which contains it; and it is not the man who chooses it, but the nature of the whole.

Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a kind Providence, or a confusion without a purpose. If then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist?

Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures.

Just as we must understand, when it is said, It is the will of Asclepius, that it is the will of Asclepius that something shall be, so too we must understand, when it is said, It is the will of nature, that it is the will of nature that something shall be.

If the gods have determined about me and about the things which must happen to me, they have determined well, for it is not easy even to imagine a deity without forethought.

Whatever happens to thee, it was prepared for thee from eternity, and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being.

Thou art not dissatisfied, I suppose, because thou weighest only so many pounds, and not three hundred. Be not dissatisfied, then, that thou must live only so many years, and not more.

Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from eternity; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being, and of all things that are connected with thee.

Fit thyself to the estate in which providence has placed thee, and love the people with whom it is thy lot to live, but do it sincerely.

Let us go to our sleep with joy and gladness; let us say: 'I have lived; the course which Fortune set for me is finished.'

Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt. Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant.

The sun also shines on the wicked.

The Fates lead the willing, and drag the unwilling.

The Fates guide the person who accepts them and hinder the person who resists them.

Let us not ask whether there is a Providence: let us be convinced that there is, and let us act accordingly.

You are doing an excellent thing if you are content with the life you have been granted; it is a bad sign if you are not.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

Calamity is virtue's opportunity.

No man has been shattered by the blows of Fortune unless he was first deceived by her favors.

No man is crushed by misfortune unless he has first been deceived by prosperity.

God does not make a spoiled pet of a good man. He tests him, hardens him, and prepares him for his own service.

No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.

We are all bound by the law of change; we are not allowed to stay the same. The seasons pass, and we must pass with them.

You have asked me, Lucilius, why, if the world is governed by Providence, so many evils befall good men. This question would not be asked if you knew that the good are good only because they are tried.

Nature has made us great in our endurance of loss. We have been born into a world where all things pass away, and we ourselves must pass away.

We are born into a world that is governed by law and order. The study of nature teaches us to submit to the greater whole.

All things are bound together by a single law. Nothing happens by chance, but everything is ordered by the divine reason.

Do not seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go on well.

Never say of anything, 'I have lost it'; but, 'I have returned it.' Is your child dead? It is returned.

Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the playwright... Your business is to act the part well that is given to you.

The will of nature may be learned from things upon which we are all agreed. As, when our neighbor's boy breaks a cup, or the like, we are presently ready to say, 'These are casualties that will happen'; be assured, then, that when your own cup likewise is broken, you ought to be affected just as when another's cup was broken.

When you have recourse to divination, remember that you know not what the event will be, and you come to learn it of the diviner; but of what nature it is you knew before coming, at least if you are a philosopher.

Upon all occasions we ought to have these maxims ready at hand: 'Conduct me, Jove, and you, O Destiny, wherever your decrees have fixed my station. I follow cheerfully; and, did I not, wicked and wretched, I must follow still.'

I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness?

You are a citizen of the world, and a part of it, not one of the subservient, but one of the principal parts. You are capable of comprehending the divine administration, and of considering the connection of things.

If we had understanding, ought we to do anything else, both jointly and severally, than to sing hymns and bless the deity, and tell of his benefits?

The universe is one, and God, who pervades all things, is one, and substance is one, and law is one, that is, the common reason of all intelligent animals, and truth is one.

When you have decided to live according to nature, you will no longer blame the gods or men. You will understand that all things happen as they must.

Do not seek to have all things happen as you wish, but wish all things to happen as they do, and you will go on well.

The good of a reasonable being is communion with God. All else is indifferent. Therefore, the philosopher makes nothing his own but his reason and virtue.

The good man is content with his present circumstances, whatever they are. He does not desire change, because he knows that all things are ordered for the best.

Do not say that you have lost your property; say that you have returned it. Is your child dead? It has been returned. Is your wife dead? She has been returned.

The materials of action are variable, but the use we make of them should be constant. It is not in our power to choose the events, but it is in our power to choose our attitude towards them.

The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.

Lead me, O Zeus, and thou O Destiny, wherever your decree has assigned me. I follow readily; and if I would not, wicked and wretched, I must follow still.

Nothing is done on earth without thee, O God, save what the wicked do in their folly.

Living virtuously is equivalent to living in accordance with one's experience of what happens by nature.

The end may be defined as life in accordance with nature, or, in other words, in accordance with our own human nature as well as that of the universe.

Jove, author of all things, ruler of all, hail! It is lawful for all mortals to address thee. For we are thy offspring, and we alone of all mortal creatures that live and move upon the earth have the power of imitating the gods.

Thou knowest how to make things crooked straight and to order the disorderly. The unloved things are loved by thee, for thou hast fitted together all things, good and evil, into one, that there might be one everlasting reason of all things.

This universe, whatever it be, which encompasses all things, and is in a certain sense divine, is steered by thee according to thy law. Save men from their grievous error and from their wretched ignorance.

The universe is a coherent whole, and the events in it are linked together by unbreakable chains of cause and effect. This is the foundation of fate.

The end is to live according to nature, that is, according to the nature of man and the nature of the universe, doing nothing which is forbidden by the common law.

Zeno defined nature as the artistically working fire, proceeding by method toward the production of things. This is the rational principle that governs the universe.

We are all bound by the immutable laws of nature to submit to certain misfortunes.

Chrysippus said that if any one wishes to know the will of the gods, he ought to inquire what the wise man wills.

Cleanthes said, 'Lead me, Zeus, and thou, Destiny, to that goal which long ago was assigned me.'

Nothing happens without a cause; whatever happens follows upon something preceding.

Do not seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well.

Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the playwright... play well the part assigned to you.

Fire tests gold; adversity tests brave men.

No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it.

Disaster is virtue's opportunity.

God does not pamper the good man; he tries, hardens, and prepares him for himself.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.