It’s good to be able to accept what there is. And although one does not need to apply this skill always or without moderation, it is one of the most important exercises for the human spirit.
There is a playful summary of the history of philosophy – written, I think, by Leszek Kołakowski – where every philosopher is given one fourth of a sentence. “Aristotle: stick to the Middle state between, you will not die.” “Hegel: God has dissolved throughout the world because he had to.” “Thales: because, water.” And the Stoics? “Stoics: it is good the way it is.”
This principle is witty, accurate, and yet simultaneously problematic. Specifically, it is problematic precisely because it is accurate. Because stoicism (at least the ancient variety) really tries to convince us that what there is, is good. In other words (one could say, with irony, that philosophy itself is based on such word play), stoicism is the art of convincing oneself that the way things are is good.
‘It is good the way it is’. ‘Come to terms with it’.
