No one can be called happy if they live apart from truth. A happy life never changes because it rests on clear, reliable judgment. The mind stays pure and free from all harm only when it can avoid not just deep wounds but even small scratches. It must always hold its ground and defend itself, even when Fortune attacks with fury. Think about physical pleasures — imagine they surround you completely, using every trick to win you over. They flatter your mind and try every scheme to capture all of you or just parts of you. But what person who still has any human dignity would want to be constantly entertained day and night? Who would ignore their mind just to chase bodily pleasures?
For no one can be styled happy who is beyond the influence of truth: and consequently a happy life is unchangeable, and is founded upon a true and trustworthy discernment; for the mind is uncontaminated and freed from all evils only when it is able to escape not merely from wounds but also from scratches, when it will always be able to maintain the position which it has taken up, and defend it even against the angry assaults of Fortune: for with regard to sensual pleasures, though they were to surround one on every side, and use every means of assault, trying to win over the mind by caresses and making trial of every conceivable stratagem to attract either our entire selves or our separate parts, yet what mortal that retains any traces of human origin would wish to be tickled day and night, and, neglecting his mind, to devote himself to bodily enjoyments?