Refuse happiness. Seneca, Epistles 4.36.1

Happiness in a corrupt state such as imperial Rome is not something we want, according to Seneca. We must refuse to take upon ourselves a burden that serves nobody, least of all those who possess it.

Amicum tuum hortare ut istos magno animo contemnat qui illum obiurgant quod umbram et otium petierit, quod dignitatem suam destituerit et, cum plus consequi posset, praetulerit quietem omnibus; quam utiliter suum negotium gesserit cotidie illis ostentet. Hi quibus invidetur non desinent transire: alii elidentur, alii cadent. Res est inquieta felicitas; ipsa se exagitat. Movet cerebrum non uno genere: alios in aliud irritat, hos in impotentiam, illos in luxuriam; hos inflat, illos mollit et totos resolvit.

Urge your friend to defy boldly those who curse another because he has sought rest and shade, abandoning his public dignity and preferring quiet over all the ruckus that could yield him greater consequence in society. Let his daily life show them how profitably he has arranged his affairs. The haters encounter envy without stint: some are crushed by it out in the open, while others escape by tumbling into unwanted obscurity. Our state is one in which happiness is never at peace; even when we have it, our happiness is vexed & irritable. It never moves minds in any coherent way, contriving always to drive each person to distraction over something different. Some it plunges into impoverished impotence, while others it drowns in obscene luxury. Some it bloats; others it saps. In the end, every one of its victims is destroyed.