"Our thoughts are up to us, and our impulses, desires, and aversions - in short, whatever is our doing. Of things that are outside your control, say they are nothing to you." -Epictetus, who was a slave around the time of NeroWhen Navy Pilot, James Stockdale spent 7 years as a hostage during the Vietnam war, words from a 1st Century Stoic Handbook called "Enchiridion" became his mantra.
Because of the words of Epictetus, Stockdale was able to draw a line between the things he could and could not control. And, he focused on the fact that what he could control was what mattered most.
James Stockdale's resiliency became legendary. He became a living example of the doctrine of the Stoics.
"Don't worry about what you can change because you can change it and don't worry about what you can't change because you can't change it. -Wayne Dyer
