Ungrieved, unshattered, unafraid. Marcus Aurelius 4.49

Marcus talks to himself, exhorting himself to turn bad fortune into good by recognizing how each event in our lives offers play for our virtues. Humanity, for him (and other Stoics), is a matter of responding well to all that nature gives. This means accepting her bad gifts, too, and learning how to use them well, how to make good from them that we might not see if we dismiss them as totally evil.

Ὅμοιον εἶναι τῇ ἄκρᾳ, ᾗ διηνεκῶς τὰ κύματα προσρήσσεται· ἡ δὲ ἕστηκε καὶ περὶ αὐτὴν κοιμίζεται τὰ φλεγμήναντα τοῦ ὕδατος. Ἀτυχὴς ἐγώ, ὅτι τοῦτό μοι συνέβη. οὐμενοῦν ἀλλ’ εὐτυχὴς ἐγώ, ὅτι τούτου μοι συμβεβηκότος ἄλυπος διατελῶ, οὔτε ὑπὸ παρόντος θραυόμενος οὔτε ἐπιὸν φοβούμενος. συμβῆναι μὲν γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτο παντὶ ἐδύνατο, ἄλυπος δὲ οὐ πᾶς ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἂν διετέλεσε. διὰ τί οὖν ἐκεῖνο μᾶλλον ἀτύχημα ἢ τοῦτο εὐτύχημα; λέγεις δὲ ὅλως ἀτύχημα ἀνθρώπου, ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπότευγμα τῆς φύσεως τοῦ ἀνθρώπου; ἀπότευγμα δὲ τῆς φύσεως τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἶναι δοκεῖ σοι, ὃ μὴ παρὰ τὸ βούλημα τῆς φύσεως αὐτοῦ ἐστι; τί οὖν; τὸ βούλημα μεμάθηκας· μήτι οὖν τὸ συμβεβηκὸς τοῦτο κωλύει σε δίκαιον εἶναι, μεγαλόψυχον, σώφρονα, ἔμφρονα, ἀπρόπτωτον, ἀδιάψευστον, αἰδήμονα, ἐλεύθερον, τἆλλα, ὧν συμπαρόντων ἡ φύσις ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀπέχει τὰ ἴδια; μέμνησο λοιπὸν ἐπὶ παντὸς τοῦ εἰς λύπην σε προαγομένου τούτῳ χρῆσθαι τῷ δόγματι· ὅτι οὐχὶ τοῦτο ἀτύχημα, ἀλλὰ τὸ φέρειν αὐτὸ γενναίως εὐτύχημα.

Be like a cliff on which waves are constantly breaking themselves, a cliff whose position is so firm that seething waters beat themselves calm about her skirts. I'm a luckless wretch, for an ill fate has befallen me. Nay. Say rather that I am fortunate, since I shall persevere ungrieved in spite of this event, rising unshattered from every present danger, unafraid of all onslaught. For ill luck like mine might befall anyone, but not everyone shall come through it unscathed. Why this misfortune instead of that blessing? How now! Are you saying that any event within the realm nature provides to mankind is utterly bereft of good fortune? Do you suppose that what happens by the will of nature is a mistake in terms of human nature? What would that look like? You have learned the will of nature already, the will of nature that is the doom of man. Does this event, this ill hap you lament, stop you from being just? Does it quench your generosity, robbing you of prudence, wisdom, reservation, honesty, decency, freedom, or any of the other virtues? What goods can human nature offer if you already have these? Every time events threaten you with grief, remember this thought: this is no misfortune; on the contrary, by bearing it off nobly we shall make it our good fortune.