It is man’s duty to live in conformity with the divine will, and this means, firstly,
bringing his life into line with ‘nature’s laws’, and secondly, resigning himself
completely and uncomplainingly to whatever fate may send him.
…cling tooth and nail to the following rule: not to give in to adversity, never to trust
prosperity, and always take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she
pleases, treating her as if she were actually going to do everything it is in her power
to do.
To be everywhere is to be nowhere. People who spend their whole life travelling
abroad end up having plenty of places where they can find hospitality but no real
friendships.
Fear keeps pace with hope. Nor does their so moving together surprise me; both
belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind in a state of anxiety through looking into the
future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of
adapting ourselves to the present
When a mind is impressionable and has none too firm a hold on what is right, it
must be rescued from the crowd: it is so easy for it to go over to the majority.
Self-contented as [a man] is, then, he does need friends—and wants as many of them
as possible—but not to enable him to lead a happy life; this he will have even
without friends. The supreme ideal does not call for any external aids. It is homegrown, wholly self-developed.
Nothing is durable, whether for an individual or for a society; the destinies of men
and cities alike sweep onwards.