Letters 20.12

It is the mark, however, of a noble spirit not to precipitate oneself into such things on the ground that they are better, but to practise for them on the ground that they are thus easy to endure. And they are easy to endure, Lucilius; when, however, you come to them after long rehearsal, they are even pleasant; for they contain a sense of freedom from care,—and without this nothing is pleasant.

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 20.12, translated by Richard Mott Gummere