Never say that you have lost it...

Donald's Commentary on The Handbook of Epictetus #11

Never say about anything, “I have lost it,” but only “I have given it back.” Is your child dead? It has been given back. Is your wife dead? She has been given back. “I have had my farm taken away.” Very well, this too has been given back. “Yet it was a rascal who took it away.” But what concern is it of yours by whose instrumentality the Giver called for its return? So long as He gives it you, take care of it as of a thing that is not your own, as travellers treat their inn.

Commentary

We’re told that after the death of Marcus Aurelius the people did not complain and said that he had not been lost but returned to the gods. That sounds almost like an allusion to this passage. It might also remind us of the Biblical passage: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21).