and the sacred mysteries of virtue which issueth from it,
he shall never lament and exclaim, never sigh; he shall never
want either solitude or company: and which is chiefest of all,
he shall live without either desire or fear. And as for life,
whether for a long or short time he shall enjoy his soul thus
compassed about with a body, he is altogether indifferent.
For if even now he were to depart, he is as ready for it, as for any
other action, which may be performed with modesty and decency.
For all his life long, this is his only care, that his mind
may always be occupied in such intentions and objects,
as are proper to a rational sociable creature.

IX. In the mind that is once truly disciplined and purged, thou canst
not find anything, either foul or impure, or as it were festered:
nothing that is either servile, or affected: no partial tie;
no malicious averseness; nothing obnoxious; nothing concealed.
The life of such an one, death can never surprise as imperfect;
as of an actor, that should die before he had ended, or the play
itself were at an end, a man might speak.

X. Use thine opinative faculty with all honour and respect,
for in her indeed is all: that thy opinion do not beget
in thy understanding anything contrary to either nature,
or the proper constitution of a rational creature.
The end and object of a rational constitution is,
to do nothing rashly, to be kindly affected towards men,
and in all things willingly to submit unto the gods.
Casting therefore all other things aside, keep thyself to these few,
and remember withal that no man properly can be said to live more
than that which is now present, which is but a moment of time.