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towards it, but wait till it reaches you.
    16. Do this with regard to children, to a spouse, to public posts, to riches, and you will eventually be a worthy guest at the feast of life.
    17. And if you do not even take all the things that are set before you, but are able willingly to reject them, then you will not only be a partner at the feasts of life, but one of its princes.
    18. The question to be asked at the end of each day is, ‘How long will you delay to be wise?’
     
    Chapter 12
      1. When you see anyone weeping in grief because his loved one has gone abroad, or is dead, or because he has suffered in his affairs, be careful that the appearance may not misdirect you.
      2. Instead, distinguish within your own mind, and be prepared to say, ‘It’s not the accident that distresses this person, because it does not distress another person; it is the judgement he makes about it.’
      3. It is our attitudes to things that give them their value, whether good or bad, or indifferent. Strengthen your mind to right attitudes, and you will live with fortitude and just measure.
      4. You are an actor in a drama, of which the author is jointly you and matters beyond your control.
      5. Thus say to yourself, ‘Whatever happens, it is in my control to derive advantage from it, even if only to learn how to bear misfortune.’
      6. You will be unconquerable, if you enter only into combat you can win.
      7. When, therefore, you see anyone eminent in honours, or power, or in high esteem on any other account, take heed not to be hurried away with the appearance, and to pronounce him happy;
      8. For, if the essence of good consists in our own choices, there will be no room for envy or emulation.
      9. But, for your part, do not wish to be a general, or a senator, or a consul, but rather: wish to be free;
    10. And the only way to be completely free is the right attitude to things not in your own control.
    11. Remember that insult does not come from the one who gives ill language or a blow, but from the principle which represents these things as insulting.
    12. When, therefore, anyone provokes you, be assured that it is your own opinion which provokes you.
    13. Try, therefore, in the first place, not to be hurried away with the appearance. For if you once gain time and respite, you will more easily command yourself.
    14. The question to be asked at the end of each day is, ‘How long will you delay to be wise?’
     
    Chapter 13
      1. Let death, illness, failure and loss, and any other thing which appears terrible, be frankly gazed upon, to be seen for what it is;
      2. And chiefly death, which is no more than dreamless sleep, and rest from strife;
      3. And you will cease to entertain abject thoughts; nor will you too eagerly covet anything, since all must be left behind one day.
      4. If you have an earnest desire of attaining wisdom, prepare yourself from the first to be laughed at by the multitude,
      5. To hear them say, ‘He does not covet what we covet, or seek what we hasten after and pursue, but he stands apart.’
      6. Do not mind such rejection, but keep steadily to those things which appear best to you.
      7. For if you adhere to your prin­ciples, those very persons who at first ridiculed will afterwards admire you.
      8. But if you are conquered by them, you will incur a double ridicule.
      9. If you turn your attention to externals, so as to wish to please anyone, be assured that you will hinder your scheme of life.
    10. Be contented, then, in everything devoted to living wisely, and it will suffice you.
    11. The question to be asked at the end of each day is, ‘How long will you delay to be wise?’
     
    Chapter 14
      1. Do not allow such a consideration as this to distress you: ‘I will be nobody anywhere.’ Is it the meaning of life to get power, or to be admitted to the first rank?
      2. And how is it true that you will be nobody anywhere, when you will be somebody in those things which lie