Discourses, Of Contentment — In Plain English

Epictetus — The Slave

So what's left? How can you deal with other people? Is there a way to let them do what they want while you stay in harmony with nature? But you don't want to endure anything. You're always unhappy. When you're alone, you call it loneliness. When you're with people, you call them crooks and thieves. You complain about your parents, your kids, your siblings, your neighbors. But when you're alone, you should call it peace and freedom. Think of yourself as being like the gods. When you're with many people, don't call it a crowd or trouble or annoyance. Call it a celebration and a gathering. Accept it all with contentment.

Epictetus — The Slave Original

What then remains, or what method is discovered of holding commerce with them? Is there such a method by which they shall do what seems fit to them, and we not the less shall be in a mood which is conformable to nature? But you are unwilling to endure, and are discontented; and if you are alone, you call it solitude; and if you are with men, you call them knaves and robbers; and you find fault with your own parents and children, and brothers and neighbors. But you ought when you are alone to call this condition by the name of tranquillity and freedom, and to think yourself like to the gods; and when you are with many, you ought not to call it crowd, nor trouble, nor uneasiness, but festival and assembly, and so accept all contentedly.