67. Nature has not so mingled [the intelligence] with the composition of
the body, as not to have allowed thee the power of circumscribing thyself
and of bringing under subjection to thyself all that is thy own; for it
is very possible to be a divine man and to be recognized as such by no
one. Always bear this in mind; and another thing too, that very little
indeed is necessary for living a happy life. And because thou hast
despaired of becoming a dialectician and skilled in the knowledge of
nature, do not for this reason renounce the hope of being both free and
modest, and social and obedient to God.

68. It is in thy power to live free from all compulsion in the greatest
tranquillity of mind, even if all the world cry out against thee as much
as they choose, and even if wild beasts tear in pieces the members of
this kneaded matter which has grown around thee. For what hinders the
mind in the midst of all this from maintaining itself in tranquillity and
in a just judgment of all surrounding things and in a ready use of the
objects which are presented to it, so that the judgment may say to the
thing which falls under its observation: This thou art in substance
[reality], though in men's opinion thou mayest appear to be of a
different kind; and the use shall say to that which falls under the hand:
Thou art the thing that I was seeking; for to me that which presents
itself is always a material for virtue both rational and political, and
in a word, for the exercise of art, which belongs to man or God. For
everything which happens has a relationship either to God or man, and is
neither new nor difficult to handle, but usual and apt matter to work on.

69. The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every
day as the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor
playing the hypocrite.