A ship ought not to be held by one anchor, nor life by a single hope.

The image contrasts prudent seamanship with prudent living: just as a vessel is safer when secured by more than one anchor, a person is steadier when their well-being is not staked on a single outcome, relationship, or ambition. In a broadly Stoic spirit, the saying warns against over-investing emotionally in any one external “hope,” since externals are vulnerable to chance and change. The practical counsel is diversification of attachments and expectations—cultivating multiple sources of meaning and resilience—so that disappointment in one area does not capsize the whole life. It also nudges the reader toward anchoring ultimately in what is most reliable: one’s character and judgments rather than a solitary, fragile prospect.