But what can a tyrant chain? Your leg. What can he take away? Your head. But what can't he chain or take away? Your will. That's why the old philosophers taught: Know yourself. So we should practice with small things first, then move to bigger ones. Your head hurts. Don't say "Oh no!" Your ear hurts. Don't say "Oh no!" I'm not saying you can't groan out loud. But don't groan on the inside. And if your servant is slow bringing you a bandage, don't cry out and torture yourself by saying "Everyone hates me." Who wouldn't hate someone like that? From now on, with these ideas in mind, walk around standing tall and free. Don't rely on your physical strength like an athlete does. A person shouldn't be tough the way a donkey is tough.
But the tyrant will chain—what? The leg. He will take away—what? The neck. What then will he not chain and not take away? The will. This is why the ancients taught the maxim, Know thyself. Therefore we ought to exercise ourselves in small things, and beginning with them to proceed to the greater. I have pain in the head. Do not say, Alas! I have pain in the ear. Do not say alas! And I do not say that you are not allowed to groan, but do not groan inwardly; and if your slave is slow in bringing a bandage, do not cry out and torment yourself, and say, Every body hates me; for who would not hate such a man? For the future, relying on these opinions, walk about upright, free; not trusting to the size of your body, as an athlete, for a man ought not to be invincible in the way that an ass is.