The more a human being merges his will with the will of God, the more resolute he is in his actions.
We do not know and cannot know what we are living for, what task we are doing for the life of the world, but we know that if we are obediently fulfilling the will of the One who has sent us, then we are doing what should be done, and all is well for us. A horse harnessed to a cart cannot know where, why and what it is transporting; but if it is meek and obedient and is pulling the cart, then it knows that it is working for its owner, and all is well for it. It is the same with people. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” said Christ. That which God wants from us is easy and good for us, as long as we are doing only that which he wants from us.
Fulfill the will of God as if it were your own, and he will fulfill your will as if it were his; forgo your own desire in order to satisfy his desire, and he will make it so that others forgo their own desires in order to satisfy yours.
— The Talmud
What great power there is in a human being who always acts according to the will of God and is obedient to him in everything!
— Marcus Aurelius
When there are brigands robbing people on a highway, a traveler does not set off on his own: he waits until someone else sets off with an escort of guards, attaches himself to him, and no longer fears the brigands.
A wise human being acts likewise in his life. He says to himself: “There are many misfortunes in life. Where can I find protection? How can I guard myself against all of that? Whom should I wait for to be my road comrade in order to travel together safely? Whom should I follow—should I follow this one or that one? Should I follow the wealthy man, the important nobleman or the king himself? Would they protect me? After all, they also get robbed and killed, and they suffer the same misfortunes as everyone else. It may even happen that the one with whom I will travel will himself attack and rob me. How then can I find for myself a strong and true comrade, one who would protect me and not attack me? Whom should I follow?”
There is only one such true comrade. This comrade is God. It is him whom you should follow if you want to avoid misfortune. And what does it mean to follow God? It means to desire the things he wants, and to not desire the things he does not want. And how can this be attained? By understanding and following his laws.
— After Epictetus
A worker will only begin performing his task well when he understands his situation. Christ’s teaching will take over a human being only when he clearly understands that his life belongs not to him but to the One who gave it, and that the aim of life does not lie in the human being, but in the will of the One who gave it, and that he should therefore learn and fulfill it.
You desire nothing; do not assume that this is what is required; what is required is to desire that which is desired by God.
— Amiel
Do not think that your situation is such that it prevents you from doing what a human being is meant to do. At every point on earth we are equally close to the heavens and to the Eternal.
— Amiel
The path of the good life is narrow. But it is easy to find it. We recognize it just as easily as we recognize a path paved with boards through a bog. If you step off it to this or that side, you will find yourself in a bog of foolishness and evil. If a reasonable person were to stumble onto the bog, he would at once get back onto the boards, while an insane person would continue sinking further and further into the bog, and it would become ever more difficult for him to get out of it.
