But the person who grumbles and complains and feels sorry for himself still has to obey life's demands. He gets dragged along against his will to do what must be done. What madness is it to be dragged rather than to follow willingly? It's just as foolish — by Hercules — as it is ignorant to grieve because you don't have something, or because something has treated you harshly, or to be shocked and outraged by troubles that happen to good people and bad people alike. I mean diseases, deaths, sickness, and all the other accidents that come with being human. Let us bear with courage whatever the universe requires us to bear. We are all bound by this oath: to endure the troubles of mortal life and to submit gracefully to what we cannot avoid. We were born into a kingdom where our freedom comes from obeying God.
On the other hand, he who grumbles and complains and bemoans himself is nevertheless forcibly obliged to obey orders, and is dragged away, however much against his will, to carry them out: yet what madness is it to be dragged rather than to follow? as great, by Hercules, as it is folly and ignorance of one's true position to grieve because one has not got something or because something has caused us rough treatment, or to be surprised or indignant at those ills which befall good men as well as bad ones, I mean diseases, deaths, illnesses, and the other cross accidents of human life. Let us bear with magnanimity whatever the system of the universe makes it needful for us to bear: we are all bound by this oath: "To bear the ills of mortal life, and to submit with a good grace to what we cannot avoid." We have been born into a monarchy: our liberty is to obey God.