via Book Five

“18. Nothing happens to anyone that he can’t endure. The same thing happens to other people, and they weather it unharmed — out of sheer obliviousness, or because they want to show “character.” Is wisdom really so much weaker than ignorance and vanity?

Marcus Aurelius

“18. Nothing befalls anyone that he is not fitted by nature to bear. Others experience the same things as thou, but either from ignorance that anything has befallen them, or to manifest their greatness of mind, they stand firm and get no hurt. A strange thing indeed that ignorance and vanity should prove stronger than wisdom!”

Marcus Aurelius (meditations)

Marcus Aurelius