Cling tooth and nail to the following rule: not to give in to adversity, never to trust prosperity, and always take full note of fortune's habit of behaving just as she pleases.
Seneca saw fortune as a fickle goddess — generous today, ruthless tomorrow. He advised keeping a calm heart in both success and setback. When life gives you much, be wary of excess. When it takes, be steady. He believed that to ride the highs and lows with the same posture was the mark of true character. He called this the 'middle path' — the Stoic's way of staying grounded in an unpredictable world.
Good times and bad are both illusions if you lose your balance.
"Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a great tree in the midst of them all."