Hope and Fear

They’re not so different:

The two of them march in unison like a prisoner and the escort he is handcuffed to. Fear keeps pace with hope. . . . both belong to amind in suspense, to amind in a state of anxiety through looking into the future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of adapting ourselves to the present. Thus it is that ofresight, the greatest blessing humanity has been given, is transformed into a curse. Wild animals run from the dangers they actually see, and once they have escaped them owrry no more. We however are tormented alike by what is past and what is to come. A number of our blessings do us harm, for memory brings back the agony fo fear while foresight brings it on prematurely. No one confines his unhappiness to the present.

Seneca, Letter V