Remember that you are an actor in a drama of such sort as the author chooses, - if short, then in a short one; if long, then in a long one. If it be … - Epictetus

this is your business — to act well the given part, but to choose it belongs to another.

Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one.

Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.

Are the Trojans wise or foolish? If they are wise, do not quarrel with them; if they are fools, ignore them.

[A] man ought to be prepared in a manner for this also, to be able to be sufficient for himself and to be his own companion. [...] [S]o ought we also to be able to talk with ourselves, not to feel the want of others also, not to be unprovided with the means of passing our time; to observe the divine administration and the relation of ourselves to everything else; to consider how we formerly were affected toward things that happen and how at present; what are still the things which give us pain; how these also can be cured and how removed; if any things require improvement, to improve them according to reason.