Thought for today:

“Fate has decreed for each person the immutable working out of events, surrounding him with many occasions for good or bad… Two self-begotten gods, Hope and Fortune, the assistants of Fate, control man’s life and make him bear Fate’s decrees by using their compulsion and deception… Fortune raises some high only to cast them down and degrades others only to raise them to glory… Hope moves everywhere in secret, smiling like and flatterer, and she displays many attractive prospects which cannot be attained. By deceiving men, she controls most of them… Those ignorant of the prognostic art led away and enslaved by these gods. They endure all blows and suffer punishments with pleasure. Some partially attain what they hoped for; their confidence begins to increase, and they await a permanently favorable outcome–not realizing how precarious and slippery are these accidents of Fortune. Others are disappointed in their expectations, not just once but always… But those who have trained themselves in the prognostic art and in the truth keep their minds free and out of bondage. They despise Fortune, do not persist in Hope, do not fear death and live undisturbed… They are alien to all pleasury or flattery and stand firm as soldiers of Fate.”

- Vettius Valens , “Anthology”

Vettius Valens @ Wikipedia.

Thx, EB.