Echoes through time: shan’t I have shards?

Why make ourselves worse than little children? When they are left alone, what do they do? They gather up shards and dust and build something or other, then tear it down and build something else again; and so they are never at a loss as to how to spend their time. Am I, then, if you set sail, to sit down and cry because I am left alone and forlorn in that fashion? Shan’t I have shards, shan’t I have dust?

Epictetus (c.50 – 135), Handbook (3.13)

Note: the above translation comes from the very fine Daily Stoic newsletter.