whether he debated with the sophists more adeptly, whether
he showed greater endurance by spending the night out in the
cold, and when he was ordered to arrest the man from
Salamis decided it was preferable to refuse, and “swaggered
about the streets” (which one could reasonably doubt).
What matters is what kind of soul he had.Whether he was satisfied to treat men with justice and the
gods with reverence and didn’t lose his temper unpredictably
at evil done by others, didn’t make himself the slave of other
people’s ignorance, didn’t treat anything that nature did as
abnormal, or put up with it as an unbearable imposition,
didn’t put his mind in his body’s keeping.
- Nature did not blend things so inextricably that you can’t
draw your own boundaries—place your own well-being in
your own hands. It’s quite possible to be a good man without
anyone realizing it. Remember that.
And this too: you don’t need much to live happily. And
just because you’ve abandoned your hopes of becoming a
great thinker or scientist, don’t give up on attaining freedom,
achieving humility, serving others, obeying God.
- To live life in peace, immune to all compulsion. Let them
scream whatever they want. Let animals dismember this soft
flesh that covers you. How would any of that stop you from