Epictetus, Golden Sayings 71

Friend, lay hold with a desperate grasp, before it is too late, on Freedom, on Tranquility, on Greatness of soul! 

Lift up your head, as one escaped from slavery; dare to look up to God, and say: "Deal with me henceforth as You will. You and I are of one mind. I am Yours. I refuse nothing that seems good to You. Lead on wherever You will, clothe me in whatever garb You please."

Will You have me a ruler or a subject—at home or in exile—poor or rich? All these things will I justify unto men for You. I will show the true nature of each. . . .

Who would Hercules have been had he loitered at home? No Hercules, but Eurystheus. And in his wanderings through the world how many friends and comrades did he find? But nothing dearer to him than God. Wherefore he was believed to be God's son, as indeed he was. So then in obedience to Him, he went about delivering the earth from injustice and lawlessness. 

But you are not Hercules, you say, and cannot deliver others from their iniquity—not even Theseus, to deliver the soil of Attica from its monsters? Purge away your own, cast forth here, from your own mind, not robbers and monsters, but Fear, Desire, Envy, Malignity, Avarice, Effeminacy, Intemperance. 

And these may not be cast out, except by looking to God alone, by fixing your affections on Him only, and by consecrating yourself to His commands. 

If you choose anything else, with sighs and groans you will be forced to follow a Might greater than your own, ever seeking Tranquillity without, and never able to attain unto her. 

For you seek her where she is not to be found; and where she is, there you seek her not!