Epictetus was a stoic philosopher who lived in the first century A.D.  He was born in Asia Minor.  He was a slave that gained his freedom and lived and taught in the city of Rome until A.D. 89 when the emperor Domitian expelled all the philosophers.  He spent the remainder of his life teaching in the city of Nicopolis in Greece.

He believed and taught that we should be happy with the way events occur in our life.  He felt that a divine providence governs our life and events occur for a reason that our beyond our understanding.  Everything that occurs in our life he said occurs for a reason even if it does not appear so at the time.  In fact, even if the worst occurs it occurs for the best even if we do not feel like this at the time.  

He believed that we should not try to control events but rather that we should accept them, and then go on with our lives.  To him only the ignorant and foolish could not accept events which were clearly beyond their control.  He was a true Stoic, and believed that all should face misfortunes no matter how bad they possibly could be with calmness.