Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
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De Providentia<br />
out clothing <strong>and</strong> are strong by their very indigence.<br />
Consider all the nations over whom the sway <strong>of</strong> Rome<br />
does not extend, I mean the Germans <strong>and</strong> every<br />
nomad tribe along the Danube. Perpetual winter,<br />
a severe climate,<br />
bear hard upon them, a sterile soil<br />
grudgingly supports them, a hut or branches <strong>of</strong> trees<br />
protect them against the rain, they roam over marshes<br />
hardened by frost, for food they capture wild beasts.<br />
13. Dost thou think them wretched? No one is<br />
wretched when he performs what habit has made<br />
second nature to him<br />
;<br />
for by degress we find pleasure<br />
in doing what we began to do from necessity. These<br />
peoples have no houses <strong>and</strong> no resting place except<br />
as weariness finds them from day to day; their food<br />
is cheap <strong>and</strong> obtained only as wanted; their naked<br />
bodies are exposed<br />
to the terrible extremes <strong>of</strong> a<br />
horrid climate; what thou regardest as a frightful<br />
calamity is the whole life <strong>of</strong> many peoples.<br />
14. Why dost thou wonder that good men are<br />
called upon to undergo violent shocks to the end that<br />
they may st<strong>and</strong> the more firmly? A tree does not<br />
take deep root, or grow strong, unless it is frequently<br />
shaken by the wind; for as a result <strong>of</strong> violent agita<br />
tion its fiber is toughened <strong>and</strong> its roots more firmly<br />
set. Those are fragile that grow up in sheltered val<br />
It is therefore a boon to good men, as it makes<br />
leys.<br />
them fearless amid danger, to become familiar with<br />
hardships <strong>and</strong> to bear with equanimity those things<br />
that are not ills, except when they are borne with an<br />
ill<br />
grace.<br />
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