Just as storms destroy the transparency of the waters by disturbing them, so do passions, anxieties and fears hinder a human being from perceiving his essence by disturbing his soul.
People with great and beautiful souls are always calm and content; people with paltry souls are always unsatisfied and unhappy.
— Manchurian saying
People experience difficulties, worries and anxieties only when they are engaged in external tasks whose outcome does not depend on them. In these cases they anxiously ask themselves: “What am I going to do? What is going to happen? What will this lead to? I hope this or that doesn’t happen.” This happens to those who are always concerned about that which does not belong to them.
On the other hand, a person who works on things whose outcome depends on him, and who understands that self-perfection is the task of his life, is not going to get anxious like that. And even if he were to begin worrying about whether or not he can stay true and avoid lies, I would say to him: calm down—whatever is making you anxious is in your own hands; all you need to do is look after your own thoughts and deeds and try to improve yourself wherever you can. Do not ask: “What will happen?” You can learn from everything that happens to you and turn it to your advantage.
“And what if I die in my struggle with misfortune?”
“Well, so what? Then you will die as an honest human being, doing that which you were meant to do. You will still have to die, and death must catch you in the middle of something. I would be glad if death caught me doing something worthy of a human being, in the middle of a good deed that benefits the common good, or when I am trying to improve myself. Then I would be able to raise my hands to God and say to him: ‘My Lord, you yourself know to what extent I made use of that which you gave me in order to understand your laws. Did I reproach you? Did I rebel against whatever happened to me? Did I try to avoid fulfilling my duty? I thank you for being born and for all your gifts. I have used them enough, take them back and do with them as you please—for they are yours!’”
Is the best death possible? In order to live to such a death you will have to surrender much, but, in truth, by doing this you will gain a great deal. If, however, you try to retain what is not yours, then you will certainly lose it, along with what is yours.
The one who pursues worldly success loses many nights of sleep, he is always busy and anxious, he is servile towards people in power and, in general, is prone to vile behavior. And ultimately, what has he achieved by doing all this? What he has achieved is that certain honors have been bestowed on him, that people fear him and that he, having obtained a high rank, gets to give orders to others. Are you really not going to want to work to free yourself from all such worries and get a good night’s sleep, without any fears and anxieties? Know, however, that such tranquility does not come for free.
— Epictetus
The one who leads his life in the light of reason and serves it does not experience moments of despair, he does not know the torments of guilt, he does not fear solitude and does not seek noisy company, such a person leads the highest life, he neither runs away from people, nor chases after them. He is not disturbed by thoughts about how soon his soul will have to leave the prison of its material shell—such a person’s actions will always be the same, even in the face of imminent death. There is only one thing he cares about: to lead a life of reason in peaceful coexistence with others.
— Marcus Aurelius
It is only when a human being clearly understands his place in the world that the disposition of his soul will be determined. When the disposition of his soul is determined, all spiritual anxiety will cease. When spiritual anxiety ceases, there will be complete inner tranquility, and the one who possesses such immutable spiritual tranquility will become fit for the work of the mind. And the work of the mind makes a human being capable of perceiving all that is true.
— Chinese wisdom
The human being’s true strength lies not in fits of passion, but in immutable tranquility.
Constant tranquility is impossible, but, when we experience moments of tranquility, we must treasure them, we must try to prolong them. It is in those moments that the thoughts that guide our life appear, grow clearer and become strengthened.
