Each of us faces setbacks and misfortunes - and much more often than we would like. The ancient Roman Stoics Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius also encountered them, and they were no easier than us. It was their reasoning about how to overcome life's hardships that became almost the most popular philosophical product of the 21st century. What is the incomparable benefit that can be derived from stoic texts? Where did stoic thought come from and how is it connected with the scientific picture of the world of Antiquity? Why can't a real stoic live in isolation from society? How to reconcile internal freedom with the inevitability of causal laws? These questions are answered by a small and elegant book by the English philosopher John Sellars. As the general entrusts his best soldiers with the most difficult tasks, providence sends the most difficult trials only to the most worthy people. The misfortune experienced is a kind of difference between a virtuous person. If you do not think about the main questions... it doesn't matter how long life will last. Live even a thousand years, bo? most of this time will be wasted.