As Epictetus said: 'No one can steal your free will.' He also taught us to find a clear method for judging things. We should carefully watch our thoughts to make sure they stay balanced and kind, and match the real worth of what we're looking at. We should avoid desperate wanting. We should only reject things that are completely up to us. The fight isn't about small, everyday matters. The real question is this: Will we go crazy like everyone else, or will philosophy help us stay wise and calm?
'Of the free will there is no thief or robber:' out of Epictetus; Whose is this also: that we should find a certain art and method of assenting; and that we should always observe with great care and heed the inclinations of our minds, that they may always be with their due restraint and reservation, always charitable, and according to the true worth of every present object. And as for earnest longing, that we should altogether avoid it: and to use averseness in those things only, that wholly depend of our own wills. It is not about ordinary petty matters, believe it, that all our strife and contention is, but whether, with the vulgar, we should be mad, or by the help of philosophy wise and sober, said he.