Seneca · On the reasons for withdrawing from the world

Letters 14.16

And finally, the wise man regards the reason for all his actions, but not the results. The beginning is in our own power; fortune decides the issue, but I do not allow her to pass sentence upon myself. You may say: “But she can inflict a measure of suffering and of trouble.” The highwayman does not pass sentence when he slays.

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 14.16, translated by Richard Mott Gummere