"I was shipwrecked before I even boarded... the journey showed me this-how much of what we have is unnecessary, and how easily we can decide to rid ourselves of these things whenever it's necessary, never suffering the loss."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 87.1
("나는 배에 타기도 전에 이미 난파당한 셈이었다... 그 여행은 나에게 너무 많은 불필요한 것을 가지고 있었음을 깨닫게 해주었고, 우리는 필요할 때마다그러한 것들을 얼마나 쉽게 버릴 수 있는지, 그리고 그로 인해 손실을 결코 겪지 않게 될 수 있다는 것을 가르쳐주었다." - 세네카, 도덕 서한, 87.1)
Zeno, widely considered to be the founder of the school of Stoicism, was a merchant before he was a philosopher. On a voyage between Phoenicia and Peiraeus, his ship sank along with its cargo. Zeno ended up in Athens, and while visiting a bookstore he was introduced to the philosophy of Socrates and, later, an Athenian philosopher named Crates. These influences drastically changed the course of his life, leading him to develop the thinking and principles that we now know as Stoicism. According to the ancient biographer Diogenes Laertius, Zeno joked, "Now that I've suffered shipwreck, I'm on a good journey," or according to another account, "You've done well, Fortune, driving me thus to philosophy," he reportedly said.
