If you intend to improve, discard thoughts such as: if I neglect my affairs, I shall have no means of living; if I do not punish my slave, he will become bad. For it is better to die of hunger, free from sorrow and fear, than to live in abundance with anxiety; and it is better that your slave be bad than that you be miserable. Begin with small things. Has oil been spilled? Has a little wine been stolen? Say at once: for such a price is freedom from disturbance sold; for such a price is tranquility bought—but nothing is given for nothing. And when you call your slave, reflect that he may not hear you; and if he does hear, he may not do what you wish. But the point is not how things stand with him, but that things should be well with you, so that it may not be in his power to disturb you.