Things are in such a kind of envelopment that they have seemed to philosophers, not a few nor those common philosophers, altogether unintelligible; nay even to the Stoics themselves they seem difficult to understand. And all our TERMassent is changeable; for where is the man who never changes? Carry thy thoughts then to the objects themselves, and consider how short-lived they are and worthless, and that they may be in the possession of a filthy wretch or a whore or a robber. Then turn to the morals of those who live with thee, and it is hardly possible to endure even the most agreeable of them, to say nothing of a man being hardly able to endure himself. In such darkness then and dirt and in so constant a flux both of substance and of time, and of motion and of things moved, what there is worth being highly prized or even an object of serious pursuit, I cannot imagine. But on the contrary it is a man's duty to comfort himself, and to EXERCISEwait for the natural dissolution, and not to be vexed at the delay, but to rest in these principles only: the one, that DOGMAnothing will happen to me which is not conformable to the nature of the universe; and the other, that it is in my power never to act contrary to TERMmy god and daemon: for DOGMAthere is no man who will compel me to this.

Things are wrapped in such obscurity that to more than a few philosophers — and not undistinguished ones — they have seemed altogether beyond grasp; even the Stoics themselves find them hard to grasp. And every TERMassent we give is liable to change — for where is the man who never changes his mind? Turn, then, to the objects themselves: how short-lived they are, how cheap — a thing that may belong to a catamite, a whore, or a robber. Next consider the characters of those you live with: even the most agreeable of them is barely endurable — not to mention that a man can scarcely endure himself. In such darkness, then, and filth, and in so ceaseless a flux of substance and time, of motion and things moved, what there is that deserves to be prized or even seriously pursued, I cannot conceive. On the contrary, one must console oneself while EXERCISEawaiting the natural dissolution, and not chafe at the delay, but rest in these two things alone: first, that DOGMAnothing will befall me which is not according to the Nature of the Whole; and second, that it is in my power to do nothing contrary to TERMmy god and my daemon — for DOGMAno one can compel me to transgress it.