No One Can Take This Away | Why Seeking Out Challenges Will Change Your Life

“It is a vast kingdom to be able to cope without a kingdom,” Seneca wrote in his play, Thyestes. This was no mere word play. This was hard-won wisdom.

No one can stop you from ruling over yourself. It’s the best and the biggest and the strongest kingdom there is.

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Those who have never been tested should be pitied, Seneca said, because they don’t know what they’re capable of. To Marcus, philosophy was all about challenging yourself. It was about settling on words and reminders (epithets, he called them) to live up to, particularly in difficult situations.