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“Nothing is wretched, but thinking makes it so.”
Misfortune and judgment are separated: external circumstances can be painful, but the interpretation attached to them strongly influences whether a life is experienced as wholly ruined.
Source note: The Consolation of Philosophy, Book II; H. R. James translation, in Lady Philosophy’s argument about fortune, judgment, and the instability of external goods.
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“Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, “I have been harmed.””
The statement asks whether part of suffering is sustained by the story attached to an event rather than by the event alone.
Source note: Meditations, Book IV, in George Long’s translation.
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“We ought, however, first to examine our own selves, next the business which we propose to transact, next those for whose sake or in whose company we transact it.”
Before committing to action, Seneca asks for an ordered examination of self, task, and company, treating clear self-knowledge as protection against avoidable agitation and mismatch.
Source note: Of Peace of Mind, section VI; Seneca recommends examining personal capacity, the proposed undertaking, and the people involved before choosing commitments.
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“The mind is its own place.”
Voice: Poetic speaker · Satan
The statement emphasizes how mental framing can alter the experience of circumstances, for good or ill.
Source note: Paradise Lost, Book I; the fuller sentence continues with heaven and hell as states the mind can make.
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“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”
Fear is acknowledged directly rather than denied, then paired with a deliberate act of trust.
Source note: Psalm 56:3 in the King James Version.
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“No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it.”
An obsession with extending life can undermine the peace of the life already present, because fear of ending displaces attention from living.
Source note: Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 4.