XII – On Old Age
Some hold that days are equal in number of hours, and this is true; for if by “day” we mean twenty-four hours’ time, all days must be equal, inasmuch as the night acquires what the day loses. But others maintain that one day is equal to all days through resemblance, because the very longest space of time possesses no element which cannot be found in a single day, –namely, light and darkness,–and even to eternity day makes these alterations more numerous, not different when it is shorter, and different again when it is longer. Hence, every day ought to be regulated as if it closed the series, as if it rounded out and completed our existence.
XIII – On Groundless Fears
Some things torment us more than they ought; some torment us before they ought; and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all. We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.
Blench: v. make a sudden flinching movement out of fear or pain
What does it avail to go out and meet your suffering? You will suffer soon enough, when it arrives; so look forward meanwhile to better things. What will you gain by doing this? Time.
