Horace describes the Sphairos as "Completely within itself, well-rounded and spherical, so that nothing extraneous can adhere to it, because of its smooth and polished surface.
This sage would be like the gods and would "[watch] the infinity of worlds arising out of atoms in the infinite void"[3] and because of this nothing ever disturbs the peace of his soul.
"[7] According to Seneca the Younger, Epicurus believed that the sage rarely gets married, because marriage is accompanied by many inconveniences.
[8] Léon Robin, in his commentary on Lucretius, writes "the sage places himself within the immutability of eternal Nature, which is independent of time.
The standard was so high that Stoics were unsure whether one had ever existed; if so, possibly only Socrates or Diogenes of Sinope had achieved such a state.
The difficulties of life faced by other humans (illness, poverty, criticism, bad reputation, death, etc.)
This indifference to externals was achieved by the sage through the correct knowledge of impressions, a core concept in Stoic epistemology.
[18] 'If thou wouldst know contentment, let thy deeds be few,' said the sageThe difficulty of becoming a sage was often discussed in Stoicism.
What concerns you and me, who are still a great distance from the wise man, is to ensure that we do not fall into a state of affairs which is disturbed, powerless, subservient to another and worthless to oneself.