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Yet nothing sets us free from these alternations of hope and fear so well as always fixing some limit to our successes.
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“Yet nothing sets us free from these alternations of hope and fear so well as always fixing some limit to our successes.”

Seneca

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Source
Of Peace of Mind
Date
49–62 CE
English wording
Aubrey Stewart — Translator · from Latin
Meaning

Meaning of “Yet nothing sets us free from these alternations…”

Seneca links tranquility with limits: endless ambition keeps hope and fear alternating, while defining enough can reduce dependence on uncertain future gains.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Of Peace of Mind, section X, Aubrey Stewart translation (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and Wikisource. Seneca argues that voluntarily setting limits to success can interrupt the repeated alternation of hope and fear and prevent ambition from expanding without bounds.

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Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

Acceptance Quotes About Reality, Limits & ChangeAngerBoundariesCalmCourage Quotes About Acting Despite FearDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyFearInner PeaceLetting Go Quotes About Release & Moving ForwardMoving OnPatiencePeacePresent MomentSelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentSimplicityStoicStrengthSuccessWisdom Quotes About Judgment & Living WellLife Goes On
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Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.
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“Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.”

Epictetus · Enchiridion · c. 125
Meaning & context

Peace is sought by aligning desire with reality rather than requiring reality to obey preference, a central Stoic distinction between response and circumstance.

Source details

Enchiridion, section 8; Epictetus applies Stoic acceptance to events outside personal control.

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Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.
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“Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.”

Epictetus · Enchiridion · c. 125
Meaning & context

Epictetus separates an event from the judgment placed on it, making interpretation a practical point of leverage.

Source details

Enchiridion 5 in George Long’s translation; the passage distinguishes events from the opinions that disturb us.

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The mind is its own place.
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“The mind is its own place.”

John Milton · Paradise Lost · 1667
Voice: Poetic speaker · Satan
Meaning & context

The statement emphasizes how mental framing can alter the experience of circumstances, for good or ill.

Source details

Paradise Lost (1667), Book I, line 254; retained legacy short extract from the fuller Satan sentence beginning ‘The mind is its own place’ and continuing into line 255. It is the same underlying passage as the longer catalog record, not a separate fifth passage.

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