The surest sign of the higher
life is serenity. Moral progress results in freedom from inner
turmoil. You can stop fretting about this and that.
If you seek the higher life,
refrain from such common pattens of thinking as these: "If I don�t
work harder, I�ll never earn a decent living, no one will recognize
me, I�ll be a nobody," or "If I don�t criticize my employee, he�ll
take advantage of my good will."
It�s much better to die of
hunger unhindered by grief and fear than to live affluently beset with
worry, dread, suspicion, and unchecked desire.
Begin at once a programme of
self-mastery. But start modestly, with the little things that bother
you. Say to yourself, "Coping calmly with inconvenience is the price I
pay for my inner serenity, for freedom from perturbation; you don�t
get something for nothing."
�Epictetus
