He who has calmly reconciled his life to fate, and set proud death beneath his feet, can look fortune in the face, unbending both to good and bad; his countenance unconquered.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of accepting life's circumstances and facing both fortune and misfortune with a strong demeanor.
Boethius' quote reflects the Stoic philosophy of accepting fate with tranquility. It suggests that a person who is at peace with their life circumstances, who can confront both good and bad fortune without being swayed emotionally, possesses an unconquerable spirit. This resilience allows one to maintain dignity and strength in the face of life's challenges.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
And no renown can render you well-known:_x000D_ For if you think that fame can lengthen life _x000D_ By mortal famousness immortalized,_x000D_ The day will come that takes your fame as well,_x000D_ And there a second death for you awaits.
Man is so constituted that he then only excels other things when he knows himself.
Every man must be content with that glory which he may have at home.
For in all adversity of fortune the worst sort of misery is to have been happy.
I who once wrote songs with keen delight am now by sorrow driven to take up melancholy measures. Wounded Muses tell me what I must write, and elegiac verses bathe my face with real tears. Not even terror could drive from me these faithful companions of my long journey. Poetry, which was once the glory of my happy and flourishing youth, is still my comfort in this misery of my old age.
Contemplate the extent and stability of the heavens, and then at last cease to admire worthless things.
Oh, a very useful philosophical animal, your average tortoise. Outrunning metaphorical arrows, beating hares in races... very handy.
Hell is having to execute a pointless act from which nothing ever comes except the need to do it again.
O, call back yesterday, bid time return
Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resigns his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.
The teachings of Christianity - from vicarious redemption to the love of enemies, no thought for the morrow need be taken, that no thrift or care or family or society or solidarity is necessary - these are immoral teachings that have done and continue to inflict untold moral and physical harm on our species. And until we outgrow this nonsense, we have no chance of emancipating ourselves.
Wicked thoughts and worthless efforts gradually set their mark on the face, especially the eyes.
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