21.
There is, I assure you, a place for virtue even upon a bed of sickness.
It is not only the sword and the battle-line that prove the soul alert and unconquered by fear; a man can display bravery even when wrapped in his bed-clothes.
You have something to do: wrestle bravely with disease.
If it shall compel you to nothing, beguile you to nothing, it is a notable example that you display.
O what ample matter were there for renown, if we could have spectators of our sickness!
Be your own spectator; seek your own applause.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the healing power of the mind
Location: Chapter 78, Section 21
Content:
21.
There is, I assure you, a place for virtue even upon a bed of sickness.
It is not only the sword and the battle-line that prove the soul alert and unconquered by fear; a man can display bravery even when wrapped in his bed-clothes.
You have something to do: wrestle bravely with disease.
If it shall compel you to nothing, beguile you to nothing, it is a notable example that you display.
O what ample matter were there for renown, if we could have spectators of our sickness!
Be your own spectator; seek your own applause.