You don’t have to look far 

Let us look for some blessing – a blessing that does not look just outwardly good, but is good through and through, beautiful even in parts not seen easily. Let’s find this. It is not too far from us. We can discover this. All we need to know is where to stretch our hand. But we behave as if we are in the dark and try to reach a place beyond what is closest to us. In doing this we knock down the very things we want. Let me not distract you, though. To review what other experts have said on this topic and show why they are wrong will take long. So, I will not distract you with all that. Let me just explain what we think. 

When I say, “what we think,” I don’t attach myself to any head of the Stoic school. I too have a right to form my opinion. I will follow their authority in some things. As for others, I will be more discriminative of their meaning. If someone compared earlier Stoic teachers to me, I won’t challenge their teachings but say, “Let me add something to what they said.” 

Follow nature 

Like all other Stoic philosophers, I will follow nature. True wisdom consists in not moving away from nature but in following it and behaving according to the laws and models of nature. A happy life, therefore, follows its own nature and is not in conflict. To achieve this, your mind must be healthy and not be distracted; then it must be bold and vigorous, enduring everything with admirable courage as required by the times; careful about the body and how it looks, but not overly concerned about them. It must also not overestimate the value of things that decorate our lives but set a correct value on them. It must be able to enjoy all the bounty of Fortune, without becoming its slave. 

Passing pleasure vs. lasting happiness 

When we have driven away all things that excite and alarm us, an unbroken calm and freedom will follow. You will see this for yourself without my having to tell you. In the place of short-lived sensual pleasures connected with base crimes, we gain an immense, unchanging, and serene joy with peace, calmness and greatness of spirit; and kindliness, as all brutality is a sign of weakness. Think about this 

When we have driven away all things that excite and alarm us, an unbroken calm and freedom will follow. 

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