DTHX GAVE IT BACK TO COSMIC GON

"Epictetus had already used this same metaphor of Nature periodically giving things to us and then taking them back.  He even applied it to one of the worst experiences that life has to offer, the loss of a loved one: Never say of anything, “I lost it”, but rather, “I gave it back”.  Your child has died?  You gave him back.  Your wife has died?  You gave her back.  “My property has been confiscated.”  No, you gave that back as well. 

"Empty are the words of that philosopher who offers therapy for no human suffering.  For just as there is no use in medical expertise if it does not give therapy for bodily diseases, so too there is no use in philosophy if it does not expel the suffering of the soul.  (Porphyry, To Marcella 31; trans. A.A.Long and D.N.Sedley)"