Philosophical Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Vol. 4

from which I have recently come: it still rings and vibrates in my ears. "Nothing," he said, "seems to me more unhappy than a man to whom nothing adverse has ever happened." For it was not permitted to him to test himself. Even if all things flowed according to his wish, even before his wish, the Gods nevertheless judged badly of him; he seemed unworthy of having fortune ever conquered by him, which shuns every most cowardly man, as if it said: "Why should I take this man as my adversary? He will lay down his arms immediately; there is no need of all my power against him; he will be driven off by a light threat, he cannot sustain my countenance. Let another be looked for, with whom we may join battle: it is a shame to contend with a man prepared to be defeated." A gladiator deems it an ignominy to be matched with an inferior, and he knows that he is conquered without glory who is conquered without danger. Fortune does the same; it seeks out those who are equals to itself, and passes others by with disdain. It attacks the most stubborn and the most upright,