Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
A good isn't increased by the addition of time, but if one is wise for even a moment, they will be no less happy than the person who exercises virtue for all time and happily passes their life in it.— Chrysippus quotted by Plutarch in Moralia: Against the Stoics on Common Conceptions, 1062 (LOEB, P.682)
Everything changes sooner or later. The good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. Profits turn into losses and losses turn into profits. Approval may turn into disapproval and disapproval may turn into approval. Mistakes and setbacks add up to success. Then success leads to failure. This is life. It is never too late to start again.
A gambler once said to the Master, "I was caught cheating at cards yesterday, so my partners beat me up and threw me out of the window. What would you advise me to do?" The Master looked straight through the man and said, "If I were you from now on I would play on the ground floor." This startled the disciples. "Why didn't you tell him to stop gambling?" they demanded. "Because I knew he wouldn't," was the Master's simple and sagacious explanation.
