“One thing I know: all the works of mortal men lie under sentence of mortality; we live among things that are destined to perish.
Such, then, are the comforting reflections I would offer… A setback has often cleared the way for greater prosperity. Many things have fallen only to rise to more exalted heights.
– – –
So the spirit must be trained to a realization and an acceptance of its lot. It must come to see that there is nothing fortune will shrink from, that she wields the same authority over emperor and empire alike and the same power over cities as over men. There is no ground for resentment in this.
– – –
Resent a thing by all means if it represents an injustice decreed against you personally; but if this same constraint is binding on the lowest and the highest, then make your peace again with destiny, the destiny that unravels all ties… In the ashes all men are levelled. We’re born unequal, we die equal.”
– Seneca, in a letter to the boy who would become Emperor Nero
In the ashes all men are levelled
