Letters 37.3

“Then how can I free myself?” you ask. You cannot escape necessities, but you can overcome them.

By force a way is made.

And this way will be afforded you by philosophy. Betake yourself therefore to philosophy if you would be safe, untroubled, happy, in fine, if you wish to be,—and that is most important,—free. There is no other way to attain this end.

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 37.3, translated by Richard Mott Gummere