34.
Will you not understand that no man should be tormented by the future?
The man who has been told that he will have to endure torture fifty years from now is not disturbed thereby, unless he has leaped over the intervening years, and has projected himself into the trouble that is destined to arrive a generation later.
In the same way, souls that enjoy being sick and that seize upon excuses for sorrow are saddened by events long past and effaced from the records.
Past and future are both absent; we feel neither of them.
But there can be no pain except as the result of what you feel.
Farewell.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On virtue as a refuge from worldly distractions
Location: Chapter 74, Section 34
Content:
34.
Will you not understand that no man should be tormented by the future?
The man who has been told that he will have to endure torture fifty years from now is not disturbed thereby, unless he has leaped over the intervening years, and has projected himself into the trouble that is destined to arrive a generation later.
In the same way, souls that enjoy being sick and that seize upon excuses for sorrow are saddened by events long past and effaced from the records.
Past and future are both absent; we feel neither of them.
But there can be no pain except as the result of what you feel.
Farewell.