Despise poverty; no man lives as poor as he was born:
despise pain; either it will cease or you will:
despise death; it either ends you or takes you elsewhere:
despise fortune; I have given her no weapon that can reach the mind."
Seneca has a simple answer to the question of theodicy, which plagues us all, sooner or later. A friend asks him to explain why bad things happen to good people, and he tells them that the bad thing is essential. That virtue can only be forged and proved under fire, and that without testing, all you have is a softness and weakness that never develops or knows real strength. That we should be grateful for the slings and arrows of fate that assail us, because they give us the chance to forge and prove our true mettle. That God does not test those that are too weak for the testing, and that Fate wants a worthy adversary, not someone that will crumble at the first sign of her assault.
As far as Seneca is concerned, the only genuine evil is moral failure, he tells us that poverty, pain, death, and the reversals of fortune are not disasters, just invitations to discover what you're really made of.
Face your fate with your head held high. She only tests you because she knows you can bear it, and you CAN bear it, if you take these words to heart.
