Epictetus · The Handbook
Chapter 53
On every occasion, keep these ready at hand:
Lead me, Zeus, and you too, Destiny,
wherever you have stationed me to go.
I will follow without hesitating. And if I turn coward
and refuse, I will follow all the same.
[Cleanthes, fr. 527 (SVF I)]
ἐπὶ παντὸς πρόχειρα ἑκτέον ταῦτα· ἄγου δέ μ’, ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ σύ γ’ ἡ Πεπρωμένη, ὅποι ποθ’ ὑμῖν εἰμι διατεταγμένος· ὡς ἕψομαί γ’ ἄοκνος· ἢν δέ γε μὴ θέλω, κακὸς γενόμενος, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἕψομαι.
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Whoever yields nobly to necessity
is wise in our eyes, and understands the ways of the gods.
[Euripides, fr. 965 Nauck]
ὅστις δ’ ἀνάγκῃ συγκεχώρηκεν καλῶς, σοφὸς παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ τὰ θεῖ’ ἐπίσταται.
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And this third:
“Crito, if it pleases the gods this way, then let it happen this way.”
[Plato, Crito 43d]
«ἀλλ’, ὦ Κρίτων, εἰ ταύτῃ τοῖς θεοῖς φίλον, ταύτῃ γενέσθω.»
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“Anytus and Meletus can kill me, but they cannot harm me.”
[Plato, Apology 30c–d]
«ἐμὲ δὲ Ἄνυτος καὶ Μέλιτος ἀποκτεῖναι μὲν δύνανται, βλάψαι δὲ οὔ.»