17.
The honourable is wholly free from anxiety and is calm; if it ever objects, laments, or regards anything as an evil, it becomes subject to disturbance and begins to flounder about amid great confusion.
For on one side the semblance of right calls to it, on the other the suspicion of evil drags it back.
Therefore, when a man is about to do something honourable, he should not regard any obstacles as evils, even though he regard them as inconvenient, but he should will to do the deed, and do it willingly.
For every honourable act is done without commands or compulsion; it is unalloyed and contains no admixture of evil.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On various aspects of virtue
Location: Chapter 66, Section 17
Content:
17.
The honourable is wholly free from anxiety and is calm; if it ever objects, laments, or regards anything as an evil, it becomes subject to disturbance and begins to flounder about amid great confusion.
For on one side the semblance of right calls to it, on the other the suspicion of evil drags it back.
Therefore, when a man is about to do something honourable, he should not regard any obstacles as evils, even though he regard them as inconvenient, but he should will to do the deed, and do it willingly.
For every honourable act is done without commands or compulsion; it is unalloyed and contains no admixture of evil.