“Whoever does not cordially embrace whatever befalls him, whoever is sorry that it has befallen him, whoever wishes that it had not befallen him, wishes, so far as in him lies, to stop the motion of the Universe, to break that great chain of succession, by the progress of which that system can alone be continued and preserved, and, for some little conveniency of his own, to disorder and discompose the whole machinery of the world. “O world,” says he, in another place, “all things are suitable to me which are suitable to thee. Nothing is too early or too late which is seasonable for thee. All is fruit to me which thy seasons bring forth. From thee are all things; in thee are all things; for thee are all things. One man says, O beloved city of Cecrops. Wilt not thou say, O beloved city of God?””
(The quotation within the quotation is from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 170-180). Cecrops was the mythical first king of Athens, who taught the ancient citizens of that city marriage, reading, writing, and ceremonial burial.)