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袧褉邪胁褋褌胁械薪薪褘械 锌懈褋褜屑邪 泻 袥褍褑懈谢懈褞
袙 懈蟹写邪薪懈械 胁芯褕谢懈:
袧褉邪胁褋褌胁械薪薪褘械 锌懈褋褜屑邪 泻 袥褍褑懈谢懈褞 (锌械褉械胁芯写 小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁邪);
袩褉懈谢芯卸械薪懈械: 小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁. 小械薪械泻邪. 袨褌 袪懈屑邪 泻 屑懈褉褍;
袩褉懈屑械褔邪薪懈褟 (褋芯褋褌.小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁);
校泻邪蟹邪褌械谢褜 懈屑械薪 (褋芯褋褌.小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁).
袧褉邪胁褋褌胁械薪薪褘械 锌懈褋褜屑邪 泻 袥褍褑懈谢懈褞 (锌械褉械胁芯写 小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁邪);
袩褉懈谢芯卸械薪懈械: 小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁. 小械薪械泻邪. 袨褌 袪懈屑邪 泻 屑懈褉褍;
袩褉懈屑械褔邪薪懈褟 (褋芯褋褌.小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁);
校泻邪蟹邪褌械谢褜 懈屑械薪 (褋芯褋褌.小.袗.袨褕械褉芯胁).
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 64
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About the author
Seneca
2,330听books3,659听followersLucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca or Seneca the Younger); ca. 4 BC 鈥� 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero, who later forced him to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to have him assassinated.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,626 reviews
July 6, 2012
I tore this book to pieces. My copy is overflowing with tabbed pages and highlighted lines and notes in the margins. Seneca of course, is a fascinating figure. Gregory Hays once said about Marcus Aurelius that "not being a tyrant was something he had to work at one day at a time" and often, Seneca lost that battle. He was the Cardinal Richelieu behind Nero. He sat back and enjoyed the spoils of his student who had clearly lost his way--at least Aristotle didn't profit from Alexander's lust for power. However, there is some interesting evidence put forth in a paper titled - Seneca: The Case of the Opulent Stoic in which Lydia Motto presents that what we know of Seneca's reputation comes almost entirely from a single, less than objective source. And in fact, if we can trust the way in which Seneca faced his forced suicide there was not much difference between practice and philosophy.
The book is profoundly insightful, it calls you to action, and it has that 'quit your whining--this is life' attitude that so defines the Roman Stoics. This is by no means an all inclusive list but is Seneca on some important topics:
On doing more than consuming:
He should be delivering himself of such sayings, not memorizing them. It is disgraceful that a man who is old or in sight of old age should have wisdom deriving solely from his notebook. 'Zeno said this.' And what have you said? 'Cleanthes said that.' What have you said? How much longer are you going to serve under others? Assume authority over yourself and utter something that may be handed down to posterity. Produce something from your own resources.
On endurance:
Life's no soft affair. It's a long road you've started on: you can't but expect to have slips and knocks and falls, and get tired and openly wish--a lie--for death.
On freedom from perturbation:
Show me a man who isn't a slave; one who is a slave to sex, another to money, another to ambition; all are slaves to hope or fear. I could show you a man who has been a Consul who is a slave to his 'little old woman', a millionaire who is the slave of a little girl in domestic service. And there is no state of slavery more disgraceful than one which is self-imposed.
On quoting what you read:
There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with. I shall send you, accordingly, the actual books themselves, and to save you a lot of trouble hunting all over the place for passages likely to be of use to you, I shall mark the passages so that you can turn straight away to the words I approve and admire."
The book is profoundly insightful, it calls you to action, and it has that 'quit your whining--this is life' attitude that so defines the Roman Stoics. This is by no means an all inclusive list but is Seneca on some important topics:
On doing more than consuming:
He should be delivering himself of such sayings, not memorizing them. It is disgraceful that a man who is old or in sight of old age should have wisdom deriving solely from his notebook. 'Zeno said this.' And what have you said? 'Cleanthes said that.' What have you said? How much longer are you going to serve under others? Assume authority over yourself and utter something that may be handed down to posterity. Produce something from your own resources.
On endurance:
Life's no soft affair. It's a long road you've started on: you can't but expect to have slips and knocks and falls, and get tired and openly wish--a lie--for death.
On freedom from perturbation:
Show me a man who isn't a slave; one who is a slave to sex, another to money, another to ambition; all are slaves to hope or fear. I could show you a man who has been a Consul who is a slave to his 'little old woman', a millionaire who is the slave of a little girl in domestic service. And there is no state of slavery more disgraceful than one which is self-imposed.
On quoting what you read:
There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with. I shall send you, accordingly, the actual books themselves, and to save you a lot of trouble hunting all over the place for passages likely to be of use to you, I shall mark the passages so that you can turn straight away to the words I approve and admire."
April 11, 2017
These letters of Roman philosopher Seneca are a treasure chest for anybody wishing to incorporate philosophic wisdom into their day-to-day living. By way of example, below are a few Seneca gems along with my brief comments:
鈥淓ach day acquire something which will help you to face poverty, or death, and other ills as well. After running over a lot of different thoughts, pick out one to be digested throughout the day.鈥� -------- I鈥檓 completely with Seneca on this point. I approach the study of philosophy primarily for self-transformation. There is no let-up in the various challenges life throws at us 鈥� what we can change is the level of wisdom we bring to facing our challenges.
鈥淚t is not the man who has too little who is poor, but the one who hankers after more.鈥� ---------- This is the perennial philosophy from Aristotle to Epicurus to Epictetus to Buddha: we have to face up to our predicament as humans; we are in the realm of desire. The goal of living as a philosopher is to deal with our desires in such a way that we can maintain our tranquility and joy.
鈥淏ut if you are looking on anyone as a friend when you do not trust him (or her) as you trust yourself, you are making a grave mistake, and have failed to grasp sufficiently the full force of true friendship.鈥� --------- Friendship was one key idea in the ancient world that modern philosophy seems to have forgotten. Seneca outlines how we must first test and judge people we consider as possible friends, but once we become friends with someone, then an abiding and complete trust is required.
鈥淭he very name of philosophy however modest the manner in which it is pursued, is unpopular enough as it is: imagine what the reaction would be if we started dissociating ourselves from the conventions of society. Inwardly everything should be different but our outward face should conform with the crowd. Our clothes should not be gaudy, yet they should now be dowdy either. . . . Let our aim be a way of life not diametrically opposed to, but better than that of the mob.鈥�. ---------- The call of true philosophy isn鈥檛 an outward display but an internal attitude. There is a long, noble tradition of living the life of a philosopher going back to ancient Greece and Rome, that has, unfortunately, been mostly lost to us in the West. It is time to reclaim our true heritage.
鈥淵ou may be banished to the end of the earth, and yet in whatever outlandish corner of the world you may find yourself stationed, you will find that place, whatever it may be like, a hospitable home. Where you arrive does not matter so much as what sort of person you are when you arrive there." -------- This is the ultimate Stoic worldview: our strength of character is more important that the particular life situation we find ourselves in. Very applicable in our modern world; although, chances are we will not be banished to another country, many of us will one day be banished to a nursing home.
鈥淭his rapidity of utterance recalls a person running down a slope and unable to stop where he meant to, being carried on instead a lot farther than he intended, at the mercy of his body鈥檚 momentum; it is out of control, and unbecoming to philosophy, which should be placing her words, not throwing them around.鈥� --------- The ancient world had many people who talked a mile a minute, an unending gush of chatter. The Greco-Roman philosophers such as Seneca and Plutarch warn against garrulousness. Rather, we should mark our words well. From my own experience, when I hear long-winded pontifications, I feel like running away.
鈥淭he next thing I knew the book itself had charmed me into a deeper reading of it there and then. . . . It was so enjoyable that I found myself held and drawn on until I ended up having read it right through to the end without a break. All the time the sunshine was inviting me out, hunger prompting me to eat, the weather threatening to break, but I gulped it all down in one sitting.鈥� --------- Ah, the experience of being pulled into a good book! When we come upon such a book, go with it!
November 3, 2024
Mai 卯nt卯i despre traducere. Mi se pare excelent膬. Gh. Gu葲u a fost un clasicist eminent de la care avem 葯i un foarte util Dic葲ionar latin-rom芒n. C卯nd am citit prima dat膬 un text de Seneca, s-a 卯nt卯mplat s膬 fie tocmai traducerea lui Gh. Gu葲u. Limba ei nu s-a 卯nvechit.
Trec la epistole. 脦n a doua scrisoare, Seneca 卯l 卯ndemna pe Lucilius (care nu era un tinerel, ci un func葲ionar imperial la vreo 50 de ani) s膬-葯i reprime tendin葲a de a r膬sfoi multe c膬r葲i 卯ntr-o singur膬 zi. Asta este o agita葲ie steril膬, spune pe drept cuv卯nt filosoful. R膬sfoie葯ti ca s膬 ui葲i. 脦l sf膬tuia, 卯n schimb, s膬-葯i aleag膬 dintr-o carte (redactat膬 neap膬rat de o autoritate, 鈥瀋ite葯te mereu scriitorii consacra葲i!鈥�) un singur pasaj, o sigur膬 idee, 葯i s膬-葯i foloseasc膬 timpul r膬mas pentru a reflecta la acea idee. Desigur, e un 卯ndemn de filosof pentru cei dispu葯i s膬 filosofeze. Dar ni se potrive葯te 葯i nou膬, nefilosofilor. Cu v卯rf 葯i 卯ndesat.
Am vrut s膬 v膬d dac膬 Seneca respecta el 卯nsu葯i preceptul 葯i m-am convins c膬 nu 卯n葯ira vorbe goale. Aproape toate scrisorile lui se 卯ncheie cu un citat comentat pe scurt. De pild膬, citeaz膬 din Epicur, hedonistul - nu trebuie confundat cu Epictet, stoicul: 鈥濷 s膬r膬cie voioas膬 este frumos lucru鈥�. 葮i face adaos: 鈥濪ar dac膬 e voioas膬, nici nu-i s膬r膬cie, c膬ci este s膬rac nu cine are pu葲in, ci cel care r卯vne葯te la mai mult鈥�.
Alte propozi葲ii epistolare: 鈥濻f膬tuie葯te-te cu natura鈥� (scrisoarea 3).
鈥濧葯a face 卯n葲eleptul: se retrage 卯n sine, tr膬ie葯te cu sine鈥� (9).
鈥濻cutur膬-te, cerceteaz膬-te 卯n toate felurile, observ膬-te! Filosofia nu st膬 卯n cuvinte, ci 卯n fapte鈥� (16).
鈥�脦nva葲膬 s膬 te bucuri! Crede-m膬, adev膬rata bucurie este un lucru sever... Orice bucurie venit膬 dinafar膬 nu are temei鈥� (22).
鈥濽nii 卯ncep s膬 tr膬iasc膬, tocmai c卯nd ar trebui s膬 termine [c卯nd s卯nt pe moarte]. Dac膬 soco葲i ciudat acest lucru, am s膬-葲i spun ceva 葯i mai ciudat: unii au 卯ncetat de a tr膬i 卯nainte de a fi 卯nceput鈥� (scrisoarea 23).
Trec la epistole. 脦n a doua scrisoare, Seneca 卯l 卯ndemna pe Lucilius (care nu era un tinerel, ci un func葲ionar imperial la vreo 50 de ani) s膬-葯i reprime tendin葲a de a r膬sfoi multe c膬r葲i 卯ntr-o singur膬 zi. Asta este o agita葲ie steril膬, spune pe drept cuv卯nt filosoful. R膬sfoie葯ti ca s膬 ui葲i. 脦l sf膬tuia, 卯n schimb, s膬-葯i aleag膬 dintr-o carte (redactat膬 neap膬rat de o autoritate, 鈥瀋ite葯te mereu scriitorii consacra葲i!鈥�) un singur pasaj, o sigur膬 idee, 葯i s膬-葯i foloseasc膬 timpul r膬mas pentru a reflecta la acea idee. Desigur, e un 卯ndemn de filosof pentru cei dispu葯i s膬 filosofeze. Dar ni se potrive葯te 葯i nou膬, nefilosofilor. Cu v卯rf 葯i 卯ndesat.
Am vrut s膬 v膬d dac膬 Seneca respecta el 卯nsu葯i preceptul 葯i m-am convins c膬 nu 卯n葯ira vorbe goale. Aproape toate scrisorile lui se 卯ncheie cu un citat comentat pe scurt. De pild膬, citeaz膬 din Epicur, hedonistul - nu trebuie confundat cu Epictet, stoicul: 鈥濷 s膬r膬cie voioas膬 este frumos lucru鈥�. 葮i face adaos: 鈥濪ar dac膬 e voioas膬, nici nu-i s膬r膬cie, c膬ci este s膬rac nu cine are pu葲in, ci cel care r卯vne葯te la mai mult鈥�.
Alte propozi葲ii epistolare: 鈥濻f膬tuie葯te-te cu natura鈥� (scrisoarea 3).
鈥濧葯a face 卯n葲eleptul: se retrage 卯n sine, tr膬ie葯te cu sine鈥� (9).
鈥濻cutur膬-te, cerceteaz膬-te 卯n toate felurile, observ膬-te! Filosofia nu st膬 卯n cuvinte, ci 卯n fapte鈥� (16).
鈥�脦nva葲膬 s膬 te bucuri! Crede-m膬, adev膬rata bucurie este un lucru sever... Orice bucurie venit膬 dinafar膬 nu are temei鈥� (22).
鈥濽nii 卯ncep s膬 tr膬iasc膬, tocmai c卯nd ar trebui s膬 termine [c卯nd s卯nt pe moarte]. Dac膬 soco葲i ciudat acest lucru, am s膬-葲i spun ceva 葯i mai ciudat: unii au 卯ncetat de a tr膬i 卯nainte de a fi 卯nceput鈥� (scrisoarea 23).
October 30, 2024
actual rating: 4.5 stars
June 1, 2024
Letters deserve a letter in reply, and therefore鈥�
Dear Seneca: I wanted to thank you for your letters. They were published by a Londinium-based publisher called Penguin Books, under the title of Letters from a Stoic. I read your letters with interest and admiration, and wanted to drop a line by way of reply.
My time and place are very far from yours, but I know that you were one of the pre-eminent philosophers of imperial Rome. You were born in the province of Hispania, to a wealthy family. Your father, an important rhetorician, was also named Seneca, and it is for that reason that students of Roman history often refer to you as Seneca the Younger. Your life often was involved with the imperial politics of your time; the emperor Claudius exiled you to the island of Corsica, but then his successor Nero recalled you to Rome, where you served as Nero鈥檚 tutor. It must have been a truly Tartarean or hellish thing, trying to serve as tutor to a man as amoral as Nero 鈥� like trying to teach the principles of a noble life to Narcissus, while Narcissus stares endlessly at his reflection in the pool.
I say this in particular because you are so strongly identified with the school of philosophy known as Stoicism 鈥� a philosophical tradition that calls upon its practitioners to rise above the vicissitudes of fortune by living with dignity and restraint, no matter what happens. Many years after your time, a writer of Britannia, one William Shakespeare, included in his play Hamlet a description of one of his characters, a good man named Horatio, as 鈥渙ne in suffering all, who suffers nothing,/A man who Fortune鈥檚 buffets and rewards/Has ta鈥檈n with equal thanks.鈥� I think Shakespeare must have read your work during his education; elsewhere in the same play, he has the leader of a company of actors describe the actors鈥� talent and versatility by saying that 鈥淪eneca cannot be too heavy, nor [the comedian] Plautus too light.鈥� After all, you wrote tragic drama as well as philosophy.
But your philosophy is what is of interest to me today, for purposes of our correspondence. Your letters are addressed to one Lucilius the Younger, a governor of Sicily 鈥� and a man about whom we know virtually nothing, except that he was a friend and correspondent of yours. I hope you will not mind, therefore, that thousands of readers, from your time to mine, have read what were originally called the Epistulae Morales (Moral Epistles) as if you were writing to them personally.
As you write to Lucilius, I get the sense that you are trying to offer helpful ethical guidance to a younger man who is a person of real promise, and who simply needs a bit of moral tutelage. Perhaps, if Lucilius was boasting about being well-travelled, that might have prompted you to write that 鈥淭o be everywhere is to be nowhere. People who spend their whole lives travelling abroad end up having plenty of places where they can find hospitality, but no real friendships鈥� (p. 26).
It occurs to me, in that connection, that you might have enjoyed reading the work of Lao Tzu, a philosopher of faraway Serica (a land that we call China). In his Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu writes that 鈥淲ithout stirring abroad, one can know the whole world;/Without looking out of the window, one can see the way of heaven. The further one goes, the less one knows.鈥� Like you, Lao Tzu lived in a time of political discord, and wrote about cultivating a philosophy of patience and endurance. I think that you and he would have had a lot to talk about.
It might help if I were to tell you a bit about my own country. In your language, my country would be called Civitates Foederatae Americae. My country, which is located beyond the Pillars of Hercules, is a federal republic, set up partly along the Roman model. The Latin term rei publicae (鈥減ublic affairs鈥�) inspired the constitution and laws of my country鈥檚 government, and public architecture like that of my country鈥檚 Supreme Court building might have, for you, quite a Roman look.
In my country, as in yours, wealth is sought-after and envied; I know that you faced hostility from many who envied your wealth, even though wealth was not the thing that was most important to you. It spoke to me, therefore, when you wrote to Lucilius that
It is not the man who has too little who is poor, but the one who hankers after more. What difference does it make how much there is laid away in a man鈥檚 safe or in his barns, how many head of stock he grazes or how much capital he puts out at interest, if he is always after what is another鈥檚 and only counts what he has yet to get, never what he has already? You ask, what is the proper limit to a person鈥檚 wealth? First, having what is essential, and second, having what is enough. (p. 33)
In a similar vein, you also wrote that 鈥淭here is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with鈥� (p. 39). While your wealth enabled you to live well, you seem to have realized that living well is not synonymous with having a lot of money. I wish more people in my country realized that.
I also liked your focus on the practical. You reminded me of one of my country鈥檚 most famous philosophers, Benjamin Franklin, when you wrote that 鈥淚nwardly, everything should be different, but our outward face should conform with the crowd鈥� (p. 36). People in my country sometimes tend to exhibit a very overt, in-your-face form of individualism; your experience of imperial Roman life, and death, may have taught you that an inwardly focused form of individualism is the safest thing. Franklin believed that, too. And you showed a Franklinian fondness for the pithy, memorably phrased tidbit of advice when you recommended that Lucilius 鈥淎ssociate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach鈥� (p. 42).
Your letters, in accordance with your Stoic philosophy, emphasize control over the emotions, as when you state that 鈥淔ear keeps pace with hope. Nor does their so moving together surprise me; both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind 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鈥� (p. 38).
I also appreciated the ethos of fair-mindedness that you established throughout the Epistulae Morales. It was no surprise when you quoted fellow Stoics like Hecato: 鈥淟imiting one鈥檚 desires actually helps to cure one of fear. 鈥楥ease to hope,鈥� [Hecato] says, 鈥榓nd you will cease to fear鈥欌€� (p. 38). But knowing, as I do, that the Stoics were rivals to the Epicurians, I was impressed at how often you cited Epicurus. This edition of your letters offers commentary by Robin Campbell, a native of Caledonia who teaches at a university in Britannia. Campbell says of Epicurus that 鈥渉is letters, and will, reveal a warm, attractive personality鈥� (p. 247), and perhaps you felt the same way about your supposed rival, whom you cited with approval at several points in the Letters.
At one point, you quoted Epicurus, speaking after the manner of Stilbo: 鈥溾€楢ny man,鈥� [Epicurus] says, 鈥榳ho does not think that what he has is more than ample, is an unhappy man, even if he is the master of the whole world鈥欌€� (p. 53). At another point, you quoted Epicurus in a comparably laudatory spirit, rival or no rival: 鈥淗ere is another saying of Epicurus: 鈥業f you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to people鈥檚 opinions, you will never be rich鈥欌€� (p. 64). You seemed more interested in pursuing the truth than in proving that your school of philosophy was somehow smarter or better than someone else鈥檚. I appreciated that.
Like all of us, you tried to use life experience as something educative, and sought to take quotidian events and examine their possible larger significance. It was interesting, for instance, that seasickness on an ocean voyage got you thinking about the distinction between physical and spiritual affliction; physical weaknesses, you wrote, 鈥渁re continually bringing themselves to our notice鈥�, while 鈥淲ith afflictions of the spirit鈥he opposite is the case: the worse a person is, the less he feels it鈥� (p. 101).
I live in a civitas called Virginia, and teach at a university named for George Mason, one of my country鈥檚 founding leaders. Because I teach courses in literature and rhetoric, I was struck by how, in Letter LXXXVIII, you responded to Lucilius鈥� questions about the value of liberal studies by saying that 鈥渢here is only one liberal study that deserves the name 鈥� because it makes a person free 鈥� and that is the pursuit of wisdom. Its high ideals, its steadfastness and spirit, make all other studies puerile and puny in comparison鈥� (p. 151). What a full-throated defense and vindication of philosophy that is!
By contrast, you don鈥檛 seem to think much of other branches of liberal studies, asking with some asperity, 鈥淒o you really think there is anything to be said for the others, when you find among the people who profess to teach them quite the most reprehensible and worthless characters you could have as teachers? Alright to have studied that sort of thing once, but not to be studying them now鈥� (p. 151).
Now, Seneca -- Vero? Vero? (Really? Really?) Surely other branches of the liberal arts can also help people to be better people and live better lives. I wish you could have lived to read Plutarch鈥檚 Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, for example. Plutarch believed firmly that biography 鈥� the history of how an important person鈥檚 life choices had important consequences, whether good or bad, for that person and for their society 鈥� could teach the reader to try to make better choices in their own life. If you could have read Plutarch, perhaps you would feel the same way.
While I disagreed with you from time to time 鈥� and really, what would philosophy be if reasoning people could not disagree now and then? 鈥� I found the arguments of the Epistulae Morales consistently interesting and compelling. I liked how you suggested to Lucilius that the pursuit of wisdom must itself be approached in a spirit of moderation:
This enthusiasm for learning, with which I can see you鈥檙e on fire, is to be brought under control if it isn鈥檛 going to stand in its own way. What is wanted is neither haphazard dipping nor a greedy onslaught on knowledge in the mass. The whole will be reached through its parts, and the burden must be adjusted to our strength. We mustn鈥檛 take on more than we can manage. You shouldn鈥檛 attempt to absorb all you want to 鈥� just what you鈥檝e room for; simply adopt the right approach and you will end up with room for all you want. The more the mind takes in, the more it expands. (p. 200).
You dedicated your life to such principles, and died in accordance with them. Translator and commentator Campbell thoughtfully includes an appendix in which a later Roman writer, a historian named Tacitus, describes what happened when Nero ordered you to commit suicide. Tacitus emphasizes your courage and self-possession in the face of Nero鈥檚 cruelty and injustice:
As he talked鈥e checked their tears and sought to revive their courage. Where had their philosophy gone, he asked, and that resolution against impending misfortunes which they had devised over so many years? 鈥楽urely nobody was unaware that Nero was cruel!鈥� he added. 鈥楢fter murdering his mother and brother, it only remained for him to kill his teacher and tutor.鈥� (p. 243)
I read your letters while travelling in your Spanish homeland, and was deeply impressed by what I read. I liked the intellectual rigour of your work. I also liked your emphasis on the idea that philosophy should not be simply a matter of intellectual gymnastics, but rather should have the goal of helping its student to become a better person. Indeed, I would have to say that you are now my favorite Roman writer.
And therefore, great Seneca of Rome, it is on that note that Paul of Manassas thanks you, bids you farewell, and wishes you all the happiness that the Elysian Fields may offer.
With best regards,
Paul Haspel
Dear Seneca: I wanted to thank you for your letters. They were published by a Londinium-based publisher called Penguin Books, under the title of Letters from a Stoic. I read your letters with interest and admiration, and wanted to drop a line by way of reply.
My time and place are very far from yours, but I know that you were one of the pre-eminent philosophers of imperial Rome. You were born in the province of Hispania, to a wealthy family. Your father, an important rhetorician, was also named Seneca, and it is for that reason that students of Roman history often refer to you as Seneca the Younger. Your life often was involved with the imperial politics of your time; the emperor Claudius exiled you to the island of Corsica, but then his successor Nero recalled you to Rome, where you served as Nero鈥檚 tutor. It must have been a truly Tartarean or hellish thing, trying to serve as tutor to a man as amoral as Nero 鈥� like trying to teach the principles of a noble life to Narcissus, while Narcissus stares endlessly at his reflection in the pool.
I say this in particular because you are so strongly identified with the school of philosophy known as Stoicism 鈥� a philosophical tradition that calls upon its practitioners to rise above the vicissitudes of fortune by living with dignity and restraint, no matter what happens. Many years after your time, a writer of Britannia, one William Shakespeare, included in his play Hamlet a description of one of his characters, a good man named Horatio, as 鈥渙ne in suffering all, who suffers nothing,/A man who Fortune鈥檚 buffets and rewards/Has ta鈥檈n with equal thanks.鈥� I think Shakespeare must have read your work during his education; elsewhere in the same play, he has the leader of a company of actors describe the actors鈥� talent and versatility by saying that 鈥淪eneca cannot be too heavy, nor [the comedian] Plautus too light.鈥� After all, you wrote tragic drama as well as philosophy.
But your philosophy is what is of interest to me today, for purposes of our correspondence. Your letters are addressed to one Lucilius the Younger, a governor of Sicily 鈥� and a man about whom we know virtually nothing, except that he was a friend and correspondent of yours. I hope you will not mind, therefore, that thousands of readers, from your time to mine, have read what were originally called the Epistulae Morales (Moral Epistles) as if you were writing to them personally.
As you write to Lucilius, I get the sense that you are trying to offer helpful ethical guidance to a younger man who is a person of real promise, and who simply needs a bit of moral tutelage. Perhaps, if Lucilius was boasting about being well-travelled, that might have prompted you to write that 鈥淭o be everywhere is to be nowhere. People who spend their whole lives travelling abroad end up having plenty of places where they can find hospitality, but no real friendships鈥� (p. 26).
It occurs to me, in that connection, that you might have enjoyed reading the work of Lao Tzu, a philosopher of faraway Serica (a land that we call China). In his Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu writes that 鈥淲ithout stirring abroad, one can know the whole world;/Without looking out of the window, one can see the way of heaven. The further one goes, the less one knows.鈥� Like you, Lao Tzu lived in a time of political discord, and wrote about cultivating a philosophy of patience and endurance. I think that you and he would have had a lot to talk about.
It might help if I were to tell you a bit about my own country. In your language, my country would be called Civitates Foederatae Americae. My country, which is located beyond the Pillars of Hercules, is a federal republic, set up partly along the Roman model. The Latin term rei publicae (鈥減ublic affairs鈥�) inspired the constitution and laws of my country鈥檚 government, and public architecture like that of my country鈥檚 Supreme Court building might have, for you, quite a Roman look.
In my country, as in yours, wealth is sought-after and envied; I know that you faced hostility from many who envied your wealth, even though wealth was not the thing that was most important to you. It spoke to me, therefore, when you wrote to Lucilius that
It is not the man who has too little who is poor, but the one who hankers after more. What difference does it make how much there is laid away in a man鈥檚 safe or in his barns, how many head of stock he grazes or how much capital he puts out at interest, if he is always after what is another鈥檚 and only counts what he has yet to get, never what he has already? You ask, what is the proper limit to a person鈥檚 wealth? First, having what is essential, and second, having what is enough. (p. 33)
In a similar vein, you also wrote that 鈥淭here is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with鈥� (p. 39). While your wealth enabled you to live well, you seem to have realized that living well is not synonymous with having a lot of money. I wish more people in my country realized that.
I also liked your focus on the practical. You reminded me of one of my country鈥檚 most famous philosophers, Benjamin Franklin, when you wrote that 鈥淚nwardly, everything should be different, but our outward face should conform with the crowd鈥� (p. 36). People in my country sometimes tend to exhibit a very overt, in-your-face form of individualism; your experience of imperial Roman life, and death, may have taught you that an inwardly focused form of individualism is the safest thing. Franklin believed that, too. And you showed a Franklinian fondness for the pithy, memorably phrased tidbit of advice when you recommended that Lucilius 鈥淎ssociate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach鈥� (p. 42).
Your letters, in accordance with your Stoic philosophy, emphasize control over the emotions, as when you state that 鈥淔ear keeps pace with hope. Nor does their so moving together surprise me; both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind 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鈥� (p. 38).
I also appreciated the ethos of fair-mindedness that you established throughout the Epistulae Morales. It was no surprise when you quoted fellow Stoics like Hecato: 鈥淟imiting one鈥檚 desires actually helps to cure one of fear. 鈥楥ease to hope,鈥� [Hecato] says, 鈥榓nd you will cease to fear鈥欌€� (p. 38). But knowing, as I do, that the Stoics were rivals to the Epicurians, I was impressed at how often you cited Epicurus. This edition of your letters offers commentary by Robin Campbell, a native of Caledonia who teaches at a university in Britannia. Campbell says of Epicurus that 鈥渉is letters, and will, reveal a warm, attractive personality鈥� (p. 247), and perhaps you felt the same way about your supposed rival, whom you cited with approval at several points in the Letters.
At one point, you quoted Epicurus, speaking after the manner of Stilbo: 鈥溾€楢ny man,鈥� [Epicurus] says, 鈥榳ho does not think that what he has is more than ample, is an unhappy man, even if he is the master of the whole world鈥欌€� (p. 53). At another point, you quoted Epicurus in a comparably laudatory spirit, rival or no rival: 鈥淗ere is another saying of Epicurus: 鈥業f you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to people鈥檚 opinions, you will never be rich鈥欌€� (p. 64). You seemed more interested in pursuing the truth than in proving that your school of philosophy was somehow smarter or better than someone else鈥檚. I appreciated that.
Like all of us, you tried to use life experience as something educative, and sought to take quotidian events and examine their possible larger significance. It was interesting, for instance, that seasickness on an ocean voyage got you thinking about the distinction between physical and spiritual affliction; physical weaknesses, you wrote, 鈥渁re continually bringing themselves to our notice鈥�, while 鈥淲ith afflictions of the spirit鈥he opposite is the case: the worse a person is, the less he feels it鈥� (p. 101).
I live in a civitas called Virginia, and teach at a university named for George Mason, one of my country鈥檚 founding leaders. Because I teach courses in literature and rhetoric, I was struck by how, in Letter LXXXVIII, you responded to Lucilius鈥� questions about the value of liberal studies by saying that 鈥渢here is only one liberal study that deserves the name 鈥� because it makes a person free 鈥� and that is the pursuit of wisdom. Its high ideals, its steadfastness and spirit, make all other studies puerile and puny in comparison鈥� (p. 151). What a full-throated defense and vindication of philosophy that is!
By contrast, you don鈥檛 seem to think much of other branches of liberal studies, asking with some asperity, 鈥淒o you really think there is anything to be said for the others, when you find among the people who profess to teach them quite the most reprehensible and worthless characters you could have as teachers? Alright to have studied that sort of thing once, but not to be studying them now鈥� (p. 151).
Now, Seneca -- Vero? Vero? (Really? Really?) Surely other branches of the liberal arts can also help people to be better people and live better lives. I wish you could have lived to read Plutarch鈥檚 Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, for example. Plutarch believed firmly that biography 鈥� the history of how an important person鈥檚 life choices had important consequences, whether good or bad, for that person and for their society 鈥� could teach the reader to try to make better choices in their own life. If you could have read Plutarch, perhaps you would feel the same way.
While I disagreed with you from time to time 鈥� and really, what would philosophy be if reasoning people could not disagree now and then? 鈥� I found the arguments of the Epistulae Morales consistently interesting and compelling. I liked how you suggested to Lucilius that the pursuit of wisdom must itself be approached in a spirit of moderation:
This enthusiasm for learning, with which I can see you鈥檙e on fire, is to be brought under control if it isn鈥檛 going to stand in its own way. What is wanted is neither haphazard dipping nor a greedy onslaught on knowledge in the mass. The whole will be reached through its parts, and the burden must be adjusted to our strength. We mustn鈥檛 take on more than we can manage. You shouldn鈥檛 attempt to absorb all you want to 鈥� just what you鈥檝e room for; simply adopt the right approach and you will end up with room for all you want. The more the mind takes in, the more it expands. (p. 200).
You dedicated your life to such principles, and died in accordance with them. Translator and commentator Campbell thoughtfully includes an appendix in which a later Roman writer, a historian named Tacitus, describes what happened when Nero ordered you to commit suicide. Tacitus emphasizes your courage and self-possession in the face of Nero鈥檚 cruelty and injustice:
As he talked鈥e checked their tears and sought to revive their courage. Where had their philosophy gone, he asked, and that resolution against impending misfortunes which they had devised over so many years? 鈥楽urely nobody was unaware that Nero was cruel!鈥� he added. 鈥楢fter murdering his mother and brother, it only remained for him to kill his teacher and tutor.鈥� (p. 243)
I read your letters while travelling in your Spanish homeland, and was deeply impressed by what I read. I liked the intellectual rigour of your work. I also liked your emphasis on the idea that philosophy should not be simply a matter of intellectual gymnastics, but rather should have the goal of helping its student to become a better person. Indeed, I would have to say that you are now my favorite Roman writer.
And therefore, great Seneca of Rome, it is on that note that Paul of Manassas thanks you, bids you farewell, and wishes you all the happiness that the Elysian Fields may offer.
With best regards,
Paul Haspel
June 15, 2016
Philosophy is good advice; and no one can give advice at the top of his lungs.
One of the most persistent criticisms made of modern philosophy is that it isn鈥檛 useful. The critics have a point. Modern philosophy largely concerns itself with a variety of theoretical problems. Even though many of these problems do have practical ramifications, many do not; and regardless, the debates can often get so technical, so heated, and so abstract, that it is difficult to see modern philosophy as the path to wisdom it once professed to be. People don鈥檛 have time or patience for logic-chopping; they want useful advice.
Those of this persuasion will be happy to find a forerunner and a sage in Seneca. As the opening quote shows, he conceived philosophy to be, above all, the giving of good advice. Seneca thus finds a perfect vehicle for his thought in the form of the letter. Although this book apparently consists of the private correspondence between Seneca and his friend Lucilius, it is obvious from the first page that these were expressly written for publication and posterity. This book should rather be thought of as a collection of moral essays and exhortations.
Even in translation, Seneca is a master stylist. He is by turns intimate, friendly, self-deprecating, nagging, mundane, and profound. He has an enormous talent for epigram; he can squeeze a lifetime into a line, compress a philosophy into a phrase. He is also remarkably modern in his tolerant, cosmopolitan, and informal attitude. Indeed I often found it difficult to believe that the book was written by a real Roman. Montaigne and Emerson obviously learned a great deal from Seneca; you might even say they ripped him off. The only thing that marks Seneca as ancient is his comparative lack of introspection. While Montaigne and Emerson are mercurial, wracked by self-doubt, driven by contrary tides of emotion, Seneca is calm, self-composed, confident.
Perhaps because of his professed aversion to abstract argument, Seneca is not a systematic thinker. Emerson wrote 鈥淎 foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,鈥� and Seneca apparently would agree, for there are many inconsistencies to be found in these pages. Sometimes God is conceived of as an impersonal order of the universe, and at other times a personal deity; sometimes Lucilius is advised not to take the opinions of friends and family into account, other times to do so. Seneca鈥檚 metaphysical arguments are weak and confused affairs; he is not one for disputation. But for all this, there is a core of good sense contained within these pages, which Seneca himself summarizes:
No man is good by chance. Virtue is something which must be learned. Pleasure is low, petty, to be deemed worthless, shared even by dumb animals鈥攖he tiniest and meanest of whom fly towards pleasure. Glory is an empty and fleeting thing, lighter than air. Poverty is an evil to no man unless he kick鈥檚 against it. Death is not an evil; why need you ask? Death alone is the equal privilege of mankind.
Like Marcus Aurelius, a prominent statesman in troubled times, Seneca is very concerned with how to be happy in spite of circumstances. There is no satisfaction to be had through external goods, like fame and riches, because these cannot be gotten unless fortune is kind, and fortune is notoriously fickle. Even in good times, this can only lead you into an empty, meaningless competition, valuing yourself for something that isn鈥檛 really yours, causing you to ceaselessly measure yourself against others. You must rather become content with yourself, taking pleasure in life whether fortune smiles or frowns: 鈥淲e have reached the heights if we know what it is that we find joy in and if we have not placed our happiness in externals.鈥�
Of course, this is easier said than done, and Seneca does not have a fully worked-out system for reaching this state. He offers, instead, an unsystematic mass of advice. It is here that Seneca is most charming and helpful, for most other philosophers would not deign to offer such workaday recommendations and observations. Here is Seneca on negative thinking:
The mind at times fashions for itself false shapes of evil when there are no signs that point to evil; it twists into the worst construction some word of doubtful meaning; or it fancies some personal grudge to be more serious than it really is, considering not how angry the enemy is, but to what lengths he may go if he is angry.
It is in these sections, of plain, friendly advice, that I think Seneca is at his best. Certainly not all of his advice is good; every reader will pick and choose what suits them best. But much of Seneca's advice is timeless, and phrased in deathless prose. Most refreshing is Seneca鈥檚 insistence that his advice is for action and not reflection. This is more than slightly ironic, considering that Seneca is often accused of being a hypocrite whose lifestyle was far removed from his doctrines; but, to quote a modern philosopher, 鈥淭here is no contradiction, or even paradox, in describing someone as bad at practising what he is good at preaching.鈥� So preach on, Seneca.
December 21, 2021
Starost umjesto u啪ivanja nudi ono osje膰anje da nam ona vi拧e nisu potrebna.
Seneka je jedan od onih filozofa, predstavnika stoicizma, koji je smatrao da filozofija treba, a i mora da ima prakti膷nu vrijednost na pojedinca koji se njome koristi. Seneka se prije svega bavio moralnom filozofijom i na njoj gradio stepenice o disciplini 啪ivota. Na tom putu gradnje koristio je opservacije o slobodi i ropstvu, bogatstvu i siroma拧tvu, pravdi i ne pravdi, zdravlju i bolesti, mladosti i starosti, sre膰i i nesre膰i itd. Filozofiju je posmatrao kao uto膷i拧te u kome se pokoravamo bogu, sokole膰i se i preuzimaju膰i sav teret koji sudbina ka膷i na na拧a le膽a. Seneka je kormilar broda koji usred oluje kr膷i puteve kroz talase i podvodne stijene. Pisma koja upu膰uje Luciliju jesu savjeti kako mirno podnositi tu oluju i druge bezbrojne stvari koje se svakog 膷asa doga膽aju. Seneka ne 啪uri sa tim brodom, kad拧to on stane, predahne, napoji se, pa nastavlja. Veli膷ao je nema拧tinu i siroma拧tvo, 膷ast, hrabrost i mudrost, boga i pravdu, ravnodu拧nost, jer to dolazi iznutra. Svako pretijerivanje i neumjerenost u ne膷emu gledao je kao glupost, a ovo kao ne拧to nisko i prljavo.
Izvla膷io je silogizme koji su duboki i izgledaju ozbiljno poput dijeteta koje se igra u pijesku. Na primjer, dobro je vrlina, a zlo je porok; ako 膷inimo porok onda idemo ka zlu, a ako se bavimo vrlinom 膷inimo dobro. Kao i Platon, Seneka je tako膽e zazirao od tijela. Njegovi smo robovi putem 啪elja i strahova, i ako na to robovanje pristanemo dobrovoljno, onda je to ne拧to sramno. S obzirom da je veli膷ao ono 拧to je dobro, tako je po uzoru na Platona veli膷ao i du拧u. Smatrao je da nju imamo kako bi uvijek bili u sprezi sa onim 拧to je bo啪ansko.
Senekina retorika je blaga i mirna, sa啪eta u svojoj mogu膰nosti, oslanja se na prirodu, na 膷injenice iz nje. Interpretacija tih 膷injenica vodi brigu o 膷ovjeku i njegovoj prirodi. Su拧tinska nit koja se provla膷i kroz knjigu jeste razlikovanje dobra i zla. U najve膰a dobra Seneka stavlja: mir, dobrobit otad啪bine, izdr啪ljivost prilikom mu膷enja ili mirno膰a u te拧koj bolesti i drugo. Sve ono ne膷asno smatra zlim.
March 2, 2025
鈥淭he mind, once healed, is healed for good and all鈥�
A gulp of philosophy is always wholesome and pleasant, so I greet her (madam philosophy) with a loving kind embrace, even if merely during my spare time or at other odd times. In fact, I sense its care is chiefly for the mind, thus it should or ought to make a beginning into it, or rather to say that it is the mind which must make everything agreeable to itself.
Through her act (by the by, as it鈥檚 obvious already, I rather see philosophy as a 鈥榮he鈥�) of a medicine which is not bitter, it also gives pleasure by restoring my mind to a sound, healthy track, though sadly a short-lived one too. She seems worthy of me, thus in silence and with reverent awe I submit to the cure鈥� And it's a great truth eventually in saying that philosophy ought to be worshipped in silence.
What a wonderful privilege to have read these courageous, though very short sized, letters. All those witty stories the ancient Seneca shared in his tiny powerful letters furnished me with some food for thought and I felt, or rather say I was smitten with certain mental thrills and, additionally, I have experienced a sort of transformation, due to the novelty they provided. Not only I take great delight in such texts, but during my read I never ceased to rest secure in cheerful and brave thoughts. Ha.
It is not only the great maxims and sayings of Epicurus that he is using extensively as a signature upon his letters. It鈥檚 especially his style of 鈥榯alking鈥� that gives a great and bountiful share of emotions.
I feel a strong, deeply instilled impression that I will continue to enjoy, time and again, this sort of continued 鈥済ulps鈥� of philosophy, and Seneca, even for a refreshment, is always a very welcomed choice for a beginner in this area like myself. In fact, I will begin to muse and think intermittently, somehow like first and foremost, how much of a Stoic he was himself鈥�
鈥滱nd I ask you, would you not say that one was the greatest of fools who believed that a lamp was worse off when it was extinguished than before it was lighted? We mortals also are lighted and extinguished; the period of suffering comes in between, but on either side there is a deep peace. For, unless I am very much mistaken, my dear Lucilius, we go astray in thinking that death only follows, when in reality it has both preceded us and will in turn follow us. Whatever condition existed before our birth, is death. For what does it matter whether you do not begin at all, or whether you leave off, inasmuch as the result of both these states is non-existence?鈥�
A gulp of philosophy is always wholesome and pleasant, so I greet her (madam philosophy) with a loving kind embrace, even if merely during my spare time or at other odd times. In fact, I sense its care is chiefly for the mind, thus it should or ought to make a beginning into it, or rather to say that it is the mind which must make everything agreeable to itself.
Through her act (by the by, as it鈥檚 obvious already, I rather see philosophy as a 鈥榮he鈥�) of a medicine which is not bitter, it also gives pleasure by restoring my mind to a sound, healthy track, though sadly a short-lived one too. She seems worthy of me, thus in silence and with reverent awe I submit to the cure鈥� And it's a great truth eventually in saying that philosophy ought to be worshipped in silence.
What a wonderful privilege to have read these courageous, though very short sized, letters. All those witty stories the ancient Seneca shared in his tiny powerful letters furnished me with some food for thought and I felt, or rather say I was smitten with certain mental thrills and, additionally, I have experienced a sort of transformation, due to the novelty they provided. Not only I take great delight in such texts, but during my read I never ceased to rest secure in cheerful and brave thoughts. Ha.
It is not only the great maxims and sayings of Epicurus that he is using extensively as a signature upon his letters. It鈥檚 especially his style of 鈥榯alking鈥� that gives a great and bountiful share of emotions.
I feel a strong, deeply instilled impression that I will continue to enjoy, time and again, this sort of continued 鈥済ulps鈥� of philosophy, and Seneca, even for a refreshment, is always a very welcomed choice for a beginner in this area like myself. In fact, I will begin to muse and think intermittently, somehow like first and foremost, how much of a Stoic he was himself鈥�
鈥滱nd I ask you, would you not say that one was the greatest of fools who believed that a lamp was worse off when it was extinguished than before it was lighted? We mortals also are lighted and extinguished; the period of suffering comes in between, but on either side there is a deep peace. For, unless I am very much mistaken, my dear Lucilius, we go astray in thinking that death only follows, when in reality it has both preceded us and will in turn follow us. Whatever condition existed before our birth, is death. For what does it matter whether you do not begin at all, or whether you leave off, inasmuch as the result of both these states is non-existence?鈥�
September 19, 2018
袧褟泻芯泄 褋懈 邪胁褌芯褉 褋械 斜懈谢 胁褗蟹屑褍褌懈谢, 褔械 胁褋褟泻芯 懈蟹褉械褔械薪懈械 薪邪 小械薪械泻邪 械 褋械薪褌械薪褑懈褟 懈 邪泻芯 褌褉褗谐薪械褕 写邪 褋懈 谐懈 锌芯写褔械褉褌邪胁邪褕, 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 芯写褉邪褋泻邪褕 胁褋懈褔泻芯, 锌懈褕械 胁 锌褉械写懈褋谢芯胁懈械褌芯. 孝邪泻邪 械. 小械薪械泻邪 械 泻褉懈褌懈泻褍胁邪薪 懈 写芯褉懈 芯褋屑懈胁邪薪 蟹邪 褌芯胁邪, 褔械 薪邪 锌褉邪泻褌懈泻邪 蟹薪邪褔懈褌械谢薪芯 褋械 芯褌泻谢芯薪褟胁邪 芯褌 锌褉芯锌芯胁褟写胁邪薪懈褌械 锌褉邪胁懈谢邪 薪邪 褋泻褉芯屑薪芯 褋褗褖械褋褌胁褍胁邪薪械 懈 卸懈胁械械 胁 芯褏芯谢褋褌胁芯. 袛褉褍谐 邪胁褌芯褉 锌褗泻 屑芯卸械 斜懈 褋 锌褉邪胁芯 胁褗蟹泻谢懈泻胁邪, 褔械 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋懈 芯褋芯斜械薪芯 薪械胁械卸 芯褌薪芯褋薪芯 褔芯胁械褕泻邪褌邪 锌褉懈褉芯写邪, 蟹邪 写邪 褋懈 屑懈褋谢懈褕, 褔械 械 薪械胁褗蟹屑芯卸薪芯 薪褟泻芯泄 写邪 懈屑邪 写芯斜褉懈 锌褉懈薪褑懈锌懈, 薪芯 写邪 薪械 谐懈 锌褉邪泻褌懈泻褍胁邪 芯褋芯斜械薪芯 锌褉邪胁芯谢懈薪械泄薪芯. 效械褋褌薪芯 泻邪蟹邪薪芯, 邪蟹 胁懈薪邪谐懈 褋褗屑 胁褟褉胁邪谢邪 懈屑械薪薪芯 胁 芯斜褉邪褌薪芯褌芯 懈 胁褋懈褔泻芯 写褉褍谐芯 屑懈 械 薪邪屑懈褉懈褋胁邪谢芯 薪邪 谢懈褑械屑械褉懈械, 薪芯 褋 谐芯写懈薪懈褌械 懈 锌芯薪邪褌褉褍锌胁邪薪械褌芯 薪邪 薪褟泻邪泻褗胁 芯锌懈褌 褔芯胁械泻 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 斜邪胁薪懈褔泻芯 写邪 褋械 芯褉懈械薪褌懈褉邪 泻褗屑 懈褋褌懈薪邪褌邪. 袠谢懈 锌芯薪械 泻褗屑 薪褟泻邪泻胁邪 懈褋褌懈薪邪.
袧械 褋械 褔褍胁褋褌胁邪屑 写芯褋褌邪褌褗褔薪芯 褍屑薪邪 懈谢懈 褉邪蟹斜褉邪谢邪 胁褋懈褔泻芯, 蟹邪 写邪 锌懈褕邪 褉械褑械薪蟹懈褟 薪邪 小械薪械泻邪. 些械 谐芯 锌褉械锌褉芯褔懈褌邪屑 懈 锌褉械芯褋屑懈褋谢褟屑. 袧褟泻芯谐邪 屑芯卸械 懈 写邪 芯锌懈褌邪屑 锌褉芯褎邪薪薪芯褌芯 褋懈 锌械褉芯 懈 写邪 褋褗斜械褉邪 锌芯-泻芯薪泻褉械褌薪懈 胁锌械褔邪褌谢械薪懈褟. 袙褋械 锌邪泻 械 薪械谢芯褕芯 写邪 褋懈 芯褋胁械写芯屑械薪, 褔械 褏芯褉邪褌邪 胁 褋褗褉褑械胁懈薪邪褌邪 褋懈 芯褋褌邪胁邪褌 褋褗褖懈褌械, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 锌褉械写懈 胁械泻芯胁械, 褋褗褋 褋褗褖懈褌械 蟹邪斜谢褍写懈, 褌褗褉褋械薪懈褟, 屑懈褋谢懈 懈 褋褌褉械屑械卸懈. 袛邪谢懈 褖械 褋懈 褋 褌芯谐邪 懈谢懈 褖械 褋懈 褉邪蟹褑褗泻胁邪褕 懈蟹 懈薪褌械褉薪械褌, 褎邪褉褗褌, 泻芯泄褌芯 褋胁械褌懈 胁 写邪谢械褔懈薪邪褌邪 薪邪 锌芯蟹薪邪薪懈械褌芯, 薪械 褋械 械 懈蟹屑械薪懈谢 芯褋芯斜械薪芯. 孝芯泄 褋懈 械. 袧褟泻芯谐邪, 褋谢械写 芯褖械 胁械泻芯胁械, 芯褖械 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎懈 懈 屑褗写褉芯褋褌, 屑芯卸械 懈 写邪 谐芯 写芯褋褌懈谐薪械屑. 袛芯褌芯谐邪胁邪 薪械 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋锌懈褉邪屑械 写邪 胁褟褉胁邪屑械 胁 屑懈褉邪卸邪. 袠 写邪 褔械褌械屑 褋褌芯泄薪芯褋褌薪懈 泻薪懈谐懈.
袧械 褋械 褔褍胁褋褌胁邪屑 写芯褋褌邪褌褗褔薪芯 褍屑薪邪 懈谢懈 褉邪蟹斜褉邪谢邪 胁褋懈褔泻芯, 蟹邪 写邪 锌懈褕邪 褉械褑械薪蟹懈褟 薪邪 小械薪械泻邪. 些械 谐芯 锌褉械锌褉芯褔懈褌邪屑 懈 锌褉械芯褋屑懈褋谢褟屑. 袧褟泻芯谐邪 屑芯卸械 懈 写邪 芯锌懈褌邪屑 锌褉芯褎邪薪薪芯褌芯 褋懈 锌械褉芯 懈 写邪 褋褗斜械褉邪 锌芯-泻芯薪泻褉械褌薪懈 胁锌械褔邪褌谢械薪懈褟. 袙褋械 锌邪泻 械 薪械谢芯褕芯 写邪 褋懈 芯褋胁械写芯屑械薪, 褔械 褏芯褉邪褌邪 胁 褋褗褉褑械胁懈薪邪褌邪 褋懈 芯褋褌邪胁邪褌 褋褗褖懈褌械, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 锌褉械写懈 胁械泻芯胁械, 褋褗褋 褋褗褖懈褌械 蟹邪斜谢褍写懈, 褌褗褉褋械薪懈褟, 屑懈褋谢懈 懈 褋褌褉械屑械卸懈. 袛邪谢懈 褖械 褋懈 褋 褌芯谐邪 懈谢懈 褖械 褋懈 褉邪蟹褑褗泻胁邪褕 懈蟹 懈薪褌械褉薪械褌, 褎邪褉褗褌, 泻芯泄褌芯 褋胁械褌懈 胁 写邪谢械褔懈薪邪褌邪 薪邪 锌芯蟹薪邪薪懈械褌芯, 薪械 褋械 械 懈蟹屑械薪懈谢 芯褋芯斜械薪芯. 孝芯泄 褋懈 械. 袧褟泻芯谐邪, 褋谢械写 芯褖械 胁械泻芯胁械, 芯褖械 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎懈 懈 屑褗写褉芯褋褌, 屑芯卸械 懈 写邪 谐芯 写芯褋褌懈谐薪械屑. 袛芯褌芯谐邪胁邪 薪械 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋锌懈褉邪屑械 写邪 胁褟褉胁邪屑械 胁 屑懈褉邪卸邪. 袠 写邪 褔械褌械屑 褋褌芯泄薪芯褋褌薪懈 泻薪懈谐懈.
June 7, 2022
小械薪械泻邪 薪邪懈褋褌懈薪邪 屑芯卸械 写邪 褋械 褔械褌械 斜械蟹 芯谐褉邪薪懈褔械薪懈械 胁褗胁 胁褉械屑械褌芯. 袧邪 屑邪谢泻懈 写芯蟹懈 泻芯薪褑械薪褌褉邪褌 芯褌 褉邪蟹屑懈褕谢械薪懈褟, 邪褎芯褉懈蟹屑懈 懈 褌褗谐邪.
袟邪胁械褖邪薪懈械褌芯 薪邪 褋褌芯懈褑懈褌械 谢懈褔薪芯 薪邪 屑械薪 屑懈 蟹胁褍褔懈 屑薪芯谐芯 斜谢懈蟹泻芯 懈 锌褉懈蟹械屑械薪芯. 袠 褔芯胁械褔薪芯. 校屑械褉械薪芯褋褌 胁褗胁 胁褋懈褔泻芯 懈 薪械懈蟹屑械薪薪邪 蟹写褉邪胁邪 谢芯谐懈泻邪 泻邪褌芯 锌芯写褏芯写 芯锌褉械写械谢械薪芯 褋邪 薪褍卸薪懈 胁懈薪邪谐懈. 袣邪泻褌芯 褋褌邪胁邪 褟褋薪芯 懈 芯褌 薪邪褋谢械写褋褌胁芯褌芯 薪邪 小械薪械泻邪 懈 袦邪褉泻 袗胁褉械谢懈泄, 褌械 褋邪 褌褉褍写薪芯 锌芯褋褌懈卸懈屑懈 胁褗胁 胁褋懈褔泻懈 械锌芯褏懈. 孝胁褗褉写械 屑薪芯谐芯 懈蟹褌芯褔薪懈褑懈 蟹邪 褉邪蟹褋械泄胁邪薪械 薪邪 胁薪懈屑邪薪懈械褌芯 懈 褉邪蟹锌懈谢褟胁邪薪械褌芯 屑褍 胁 褌褉懈胁懈邪谢薪懈, 斜械蟹褋屑懈褋谢械薪懈 懈 泻褉邪褌泻芯褋褉芯褔薪懈 褍褋懈谢懈褟 褋褗褖械褋褌胁褍胁邪褌 胁 斜懈褌懈械褌芯 薪邪 胁褋械泻懈, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 芯褌褉邪卸械薪懈褟褌邪 懈屑 胁 写褍褕邪褌邪 - 褌芯胁邪, 泻芯械褌芯 芯褌 褋褌邪褉懈 胁褉械屑械薪邪 薪邪褉懈褔邪屑械 鈥溠佈傃€邪褋褌懈鈥�.
小械薪械泻邪 械 斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯 芯斜懈谐褉邪薪 芯褉邪褌芯褉 懈 锌懈褋邪褌械谢, 胁褋褟泻芯 懈蟹褉械褔械薪懈械 械 褕械写褜芯胁褗褉. 袩懈褋邪谢 械 薪邪懈褋褌懈薪邪 蟹邪 褋谢械写 2000 谐芯写懈薪懈. 袩芯谢懈褉邪谢 械 屑懈褋褗谢褌邪 褋懈 写芯 斜懈卸褍褌械褉褋泻芯 褋褗胁褗褉褕械薪褋褌胁芯.
袧芯 胁褋械 锌邪泻 薪褟泻芯谢泻芯 谐褉邪锌邪胁懈薪懈, 薪械懈蟹斜械卸薪懈 懈 锌褉懈写邪胁邪褖懈 芯褖械 锌芯-谐芯谢褟屑邪 邪胁褌械薪褌懈褔薪芯褋褌 懈 泻芯薪泻褉械褌薪邪 褎懈蟹懈芯薪芯屑懈褟 薪邪 薪械谐芯胁懈褟 褋褌芯懈褑懈蟹褗屑, 锌褉芯薪懈蟹胁邪褌 谐谢邪写泻邪褌邪 薪邪 锌褉褗胁 锌芯谐谢械写 锌芯胁褗褉褏薪芯褋褌:
馃彌 小褌芯懈褑懈蟹屑褗褌 褋锌芯褉械写 小械薪械泻邪, 锌褉懈 褍褋谢芯胁懈械, 褔械 褋邪屑懈褟褌 褌芯泄 械 斜懈谢 械写懈薪 芯褌 薪邪泄-斜芯谐邪褌懈褌械 褉懈屑谢褟薪懈, 懈蟹谐谢械卸写邪 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 泻邪褌芯 锌褉械写谢芯卸械薪芯 褉械褕械薪懈械 械写懈薪褋褌胁械薪芯 蟹邪 锌褉械蟹邪写芯胁芯谢械薪懈褌械 褔谢械薪芯胁械 薪邪 芯斜褖械褋褌胁芯褌芯, 蟹邪褌褗薪邪谢懈 褌胁褗褉写械 薪邪写褗谢斜芯泻芯 胁 褌械褔械薪懈褟褌邪 屑褍 (锌芯谢懈褌懈泻邪, 褍锌褉邪胁谢械薪懈械, 斜懈蟹薪械褋). 袩芯写薪邪褋褟薪械褌芯 薪邪 褌胁褗褉写械 懈写械邪谢懈蟹懈褉邪薪懈 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 锌褉懈屑械褉懈 芯褌 卸懈胁芯褌邪 薪邪 锌芯-斜械写薪懈褌械 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 蟹胁褍褔懈 褋懈谢薪芯 谢懈褑械屑械褉薪芯, 薪械褖芯 泻邪褌芯 写邪 褉械泻谢邪屑懈褉邪褕 卸懈胁芯褌邪 薪邪 谐谢邪写褍胁邪褖懈褌械 泻邪褌芯 锌械褉褎械泻褌薪邪褌邪 写懈械褌邪 蟹邪 褋胁邪谢褟薪械 薪邪 懈蟹谢懈褕薪懈褌械 褌谢褗褋褌懈薪懈.
馃彌 孝邪蟹懈 胁械褔薪邪 锌芯写谐芯褌芯胁泻邪 蟹邪 褋屑褗褉褌褌邪 褋褟泻邪褕 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 懈蟹泻谢褞褔胁邪 胁褋褟泻邪 褉邪写芯褋褌 芯褌 卸懈胁芯褌邪. 袛邪, 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 锌芯屑薪懈屑, 褔械 褋屑械 褋屑褗褉褌薪懈 (memento mori!), 薪芯 小械薪械泻邪 褟胁薪芯 械 锌褉械写褔褍胁褋褌胁邪谢 褋芯斜褋褌胁械薪懈褟 褋懈 薪械谢械泻 泻褉邪泄, 懈 屑械褌芯写懈褔薪芯 懈 锌褋懈褏芯褌械褉邪锌械胁褌懈褔薪芯 褋械 械 锌芯写谐芯褌胁褟谢 蟹邪 锌褉懈械屑邪薪械褌芯 屑褍. 袛邪谢懈 邪泻芯 褋邪屑 薪械 褋械 斜械褕械 屑械褋懈谢 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪 胁 懈屑锌械褉褋泻懈褌械 懈薪褌褉懈谐懈 懈 斜械褕械 褋谢械写胁邪谢 褋芯斜褋褌胁械薪懈褌械 褋懈 褋褗胁械褌懈, 薪褟屑邪褕械 胁褋械 锌邪泻 写邪 褟 懈蟹斜械谐薪械 (褋邪屑芯褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯 锌芯 蟹邪锌芯胁械写 薪邪 懈屑锌械褉邪褌芯褉邪)?
馃彌 袪芯斜懈褌械. 小褗褉褑械胁懈薪邪褌邪 薪邪 褑械谢懈褟 屑褍 褋胁械褌芯谐谢械写 褋械 锌褉芯锌褍泻胁邪 胁 屑芯屑械薪褌懈褌械, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 小械薪械泻邪 褋 薪械懈褋褌芯胁懈 褍褋懈谢懈褟 褋械 芯锌懈褌胁邪 写邪 锌褉懈谐芯写懈 写芯褋褌邪 褔芯胁械泻芯谢褞斜懈胁懈褟 褋褌芯懈褑懈蟹褗屑 泻褗屑 械写褉芯褌芯 褉芯斜芯胁谢邪写械谢褋褌胁芯 胁 袪懈屑. 袝写懈薪 胁懈写 - 薪械 斜懈泄褌械 写芯屑邪褕薪懈褌械 褋懈 谢褞斜懈屑褑懈, 懈 写邪, 胁褋懈褔泻懈 褋屑械 褏芯褉邪, 懈 褌械 褋邪 褏芯褉邪, 薪芯 褋邪 懈 褉芯斜懈, 懈 薪械 褋邪 褔邪泻 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪 屑薪芯谐芯 褏芯褉邪 泻芯谢泻芯褌芯 褋芯斜褋褌胁械薪懈褑懈褌械 褋懈鈥�
袦懈褋谢械褏 写邪 懈蟹屑褗泻薪邪 褑懈褌邪褌懈, 薪芯 褌芯胁邪 蟹薪邪褔懈 写邪 泻芯锌懈褉邪屑 褑褟谢邪褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪. 孝褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋械 褍锌褉邪卸薪褟 胁 褍屑械褉械薪芯褋褌, 邪 褌芯胁邪 胁褗胁 胁械谢懈泻芯谢械锌懈械褌芯 薪邪 写褍屑懈褌械 薪邪 小械薪械泻邪 薪械 械 谢械褋薪邪 蟹邪写邪褔邪.
袟邪胁械褖邪薪懈械褌芯 薪邪 褋褌芯懈褑懈褌械 谢懈褔薪芯 薪邪 屑械薪 屑懈 蟹胁褍褔懈 屑薪芯谐芯 斜谢懈蟹泻芯 懈 锌褉懈蟹械屑械薪芯. 袠 褔芯胁械褔薪芯. 校屑械褉械薪芯褋褌 胁褗胁 胁褋懈褔泻芯 懈 薪械懈蟹屑械薪薪邪 蟹写褉邪胁邪 谢芯谐懈泻邪 泻邪褌芯 锌芯写褏芯写 芯锌褉械写械谢械薪芯 褋邪 薪褍卸薪懈 胁懈薪邪谐懈. 袣邪泻褌芯 褋褌邪胁邪 褟褋薪芯 懈 芯褌 薪邪褋谢械写褋褌胁芯褌芯 薪邪 小械薪械泻邪 懈 袦邪褉泻 袗胁褉械谢懈泄, 褌械 褋邪 褌褉褍写薪芯 锌芯褋褌懈卸懈屑懈 胁褗胁 胁褋懈褔泻懈 械锌芯褏懈. 孝胁褗褉写械 屑薪芯谐芯 懈蟹褌芯褔薪懈褑懈 蟹邪 褉邪蟹褋械泄胁邪薪械 薪邪 胁薪懈屑邪薪懈械褌芯 懈 褉邪蟹锌懈谢褟胁邪薪械褌芯 屑褍 胁 褌褉懈胁懈邪谢薪懈, 斜械蟹褋屑懈褋谢械薪懈 懈 泻褉邪褌泻芯褋褉芯褔薪懈 褍褋懈谢懈褟 褋褗褖械褋褌胁褍胁邪褌 胁 斜懈褌懈械褌芯 薪邪 胁褋械泻懈, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 芯褌褉邪卸械薪懈褟褌邪 懈屑 胁 写褍褕邪褌邪 - 褌芯胁邪, 泻芯械褌芯 芯褌 褋褌邪褉懈 胁褉械屑械薪邪 薪邪褉懈褔邪屑械 鈥溠佈傃€邪褋褌懈鈥�.
小械薪械泻邪 械 斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯 芯斜懈谐褉邪薪 芯褉邪褌芯褉 懈 锌懈褋邪褌械谢, 胁褋褟泻芯 懈蟹褉械褔械薪懈械 械 褕械写褜芯胁褗褉. 袩懈褋邪谢 械 薪邪懈褋褌懈薪邪 蟹邪 褋谢械写 2000 谐芯写懈薪懈. 袩芯谢懈褉邪谢 械 屑懈褋褗谢褌邪 褋懈 写芯 斜懈卸褍褌械褉褋泻芯 褋褗胁褗褉褕械薪褋褌胁芯.
袧芯 胁褋械 锌邪泻 薪褟泻芯谢泻芯 谐褉邪锌邪胁懈薪懈, 薪械懈蟹斜械卸薪懈 懈 锌褉懈写邪胁邪褖懈 芯褖械 锌芯-谐芯谢褟屑邪 邪胁褌械薪褌懈褔薪芯褋褌 懈 泻芯薪泻褉械褌薪邪 褎懈蟹懈芯薪芯屑懈褟 薪邪 薪械谐芯胁懈褟 褋褌芯懈褑懈蟹褗屑, 锌褉芯薪懈蟹胁邪褌 谐谢邪写泻邪褌邪 薪邪 锌褉褗胁 锌芯谐谢械写 锌芯胁褗褉褏薪芯褋褌:
馃彌 小褌芯懈褑懈蟹屑褗褌 褋锌芯褉械写 小械薪械泻邪, 锌褉懈 褍褋谢芯胁懈械, 褔械 褋邪屑懈褟褌 褌芯泄 械 斜懈谢 械写懈薪 芯褌 薪邪泄-斜芯谐邪褌懈褌械 褉懈屑谢褟薪懈, 懈蟹谐谢械卸写邪 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 泻邪褌芯 锌褉械写谢芯卸械薪芯 褉械褕械薪懈械 械写懈薪褋褌胁械薪芯 蟹邪 锌褉械蟹邪写芯胁芯谢械薪懈褌械 褔谢械薪芯胁械 薪邪 芯斜褖械褋褌胁芯褌芯, 蟹邪褌褗薪邪谢懈 褌胁褗褉写械 薪邪写褗谢斜芯泻芯 胁 褌械褔械薪懈褟褌邪 屑褍 (锌芯谢懈褌懈泻邪, 褍锌褉邪胁谢械薪懈械, 斜懈蟹薪械褋). 袩芯写薪邪褋褟薪械褌芯 薪邪 褌胁褗褉写械 懈写械邪谢懈蟹懈褉邪薪懈 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 锌褉懈屑械褉懈 芯褌 卸懈胁芯褌邪 薪邪 锌芯-斜械写薪懈褌械 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 蟹胁褍褔懈 褋懈谢薪芯 谢懈褑械屑械褉薪芯, 薪械褖芯 泻邪褌芯 写邪 褉械泻谢邪屑懈褉邪褕 卸懈胁芯褌邪 薪邪 谐谢邪写褍胁邪褖懈褌械 泻邪褌芯 锌械褉褎械泻褌薪邪褌邪 写懈械褌邪 蟹邪 褋胁邪谢褟薪械 薪邪 懈蟹谢懈褕薪懈褌械 褌谢褗褋褌懈薪懈.
馃彌 孝邪蟹懈 胁械褔薪邪 锌芯写谐芯褌芯胁泻邪 蟹邪 褋屑褗褉褌褌邪 褋褟泻邪褕 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 懈蟹泻谢褞褔胁邪 胁褋褟泻邪 褉邪写芯褋褌 芯褌 卸懈胁芯褌邪. 袛邪, 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 锌芯屑薪懈屑, 褔械 褋屑械 褋屑褗褉褌薪懈 (memento mori!), 薪芯 小械薪械泻邪 褟胁薪芯 械 锌褉械写褔褍胁褋褌胁邪谢 褋芯斜褋褌胁械薪懈褟 褋懈 薪械谢械泻 泻褉邪泄, 懈 屑械褌芯写懈褔薪芯 懈 锌褋懈褏芯褌械褉邪锌械胁褌懈褔薪芯 褋械 械 锌芯写谐芯褌胁褟谢 蟹邪 锌褉懈械屑邪薪械褌芯 屑褍. 袛邪谢懈 邪泻芯 褋邪屑 薪械 褋械 斜械褕械 屑械褋懈谢 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪 胁 懈屑锌械褉褋泻懈褌械 懈薪褌褉懈谐懈 懈 斜械褕械 褋谢械写胁邪谢 褋芯斜褋褌胁械薪懈褌械 褋懈 褋褗胁械褌懈, 薪褟屑邪褕械 胁褋械 锌邪泻 写邪 褟 懈蟹斜械谐薪械 (褋邪屑芯褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯 锌芯 蟹邪锌芯胁械写 薪邪 懈屑锌械褉邪褌芯褉邪)?
馃彌 袪芯斜懈褌械. 小褗褉褑械胁懈薪邪褌邪 薪邪 褑械谢懈褟 屑褍 褋胁械褌芯谐谢械写 褋械 锌褉芯锌褍泻胁邪 胁 屑芯屑械薪褌懈褌械, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 小械薪械泻邪 褋 薪械懈褋褌芯胁懈 褍褋懈谢懈褟 褋械 芯锌懈褌胁邪 写邪 锌褉懈谐芯写懈 写芯褋褌邪 褔芯胁械泻芯谢褞斜懈胁懈褟 褋褌芯懈褑懈蟹褗屑 泻褗屑 械写褉芯褌芯 褉芯斜芯胁谢邪写械谢褋褌胁芯 胁 袪懈屑. 袝写懈薪 胁懈写 - 薪械 斜懈泄褌械 写芯屑邪褕薪懈褌械 褋懈 谢褞斜懈屑褑懈, 懈 写邪, 胁褋懈褔泻懈 褋屑械 褏芯褉邪, 懈 褌械 褋邪 褏芯褉邪, 薪芯 褋邪 懈 褉芯斜懈, 懈 薪械 褋邪 褔邪泻 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪 屑薪芯谐芯 褏芯褉邪 泻芯谢泻芯褌芯 褋芯斜褋褌胁械薪懈褑懈褌械 褋懈鈥�
袦懈褋谢械褏 写邪 懈蟹屑褗泻薪邪 褑懈褌邪褌懈, 薪芯 褌芯胁邪 蟹薪邪褔懈 写邪 泻芯锌懈褉邪屑 褑褟谢邪褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪. 孝褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋械 褍锌褉邪卸薪褟 胁 褍屑械褉械薪芯褋褌, 邪 褌芯胁邪 胁褗胁 胁械谢懈泻芯谢械锌懈械褌芯 薪邪 写褍屑懈褌械 薪邪 小械薪械泻邪 薪械 械 谢械褋薪邪 蟹邪写邪褔邪.
June 9, 2023
"袧褉邪胁褋褌胁械薪薪褘械 锌懈褋褜屑邪 泻 袥褍褑懈谢懈褞" 锌褉械写褋褌邪胁谢褟械褌 褋芯斜芯泄 褋胁芯写 褝褌懈褔械褋泻懈褏 锌褉械写褋褌邪胁谢械薪懈泄 褋褌芯懈褑懈蟹屑邪, 懈蟹谢芯卸械薪薪褘褏 胁 芯写薪芯褋褌芯褉芯薪薪械泄 褝锌懈褋褌芯谢褟褉薪芯泄 褎芯褉屑械 斜械蟹 芯褌胁械褌芯胁 邪写褉械褋邪褌邪. 小芯褋褌邪胁谢械薪薪褘械 胁 褎芯褉屑械 薪邪褋褌邪胁谢械薪懈泄 锌芯 褋邪屑芯屑褍 褕懈褉芯泻芯屑褍 褋锌械泻褌褉褍 胁芯锌褉芯褋芯胁 - 芯褌 写褉褍卸斜褘, 蟹写芯褉芯胁褜褟, 褋褌邪褉芯褋褌懈, 褋屑械褉褌懈, 写芯 谢褞斜胁懈 泻 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎懈懈, 胁邪卸薪芯褋褌懈 蟹薪邪薪懈泄, 斜芯卸械褋褌胁械薪薪芯泄 锌褉懈褉芯写褘 写褍褕懈 褔械谢芯胁械泻邪.
袧械褋屑芯褌褉褟 薪邪 屑芯褉邪谢懈蟹邪褌芯褉褋泻懈泄 褋褌懈谢褜, 屑薪芯谐懈械 薪邪褋褌邪胁谢械薪懈褟 芯褔械薪褜 褌芯褔薪褘 胁 薪邪斜谢褞写械薪懈懈.
"小 泻械屑 屑褘 褋芯褕谢懈褋褜 褉邪写懈 锌芯谢褜蟹褘, 屑懈谢 薪邪屑, 谢懈褕褜 锌芯泻褍写邪 锌芯谢械蟹械薪. 袙芯褌 锌芯褔械屑褍 胁芯泻褉褍谐 褌芯谐芯, 褔褜懈 写械谢邪 锌褉芯褑胁械褌邪褞褌, 鈥� 褌芯谢锌邪 写褉褍蟹械泄, 邪 胁芯泻褉褍谐 锌芯褌械褉锌械胁褕懈褏 泻褉褍褕械薪懈械 鈥� 锌褍褋褌褘薪褟. 袛褉褍蟹褜褟 斜械谐褍褌 芯褌褌褍写邪, 谐写械 懈褋锌褘褌褘胁邪械褌褋褟 写褉褍卸斜邪. 袙芯褌 锌芯褔械屑褍 胁懈写懈屑 屑褘 褌邪泻 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯褋褌褘写薪褘褏 锌褉懈屑械褉芯胁, 泻芯谐写邪 芯写薪懈 懈蟹 褋褌褉邪褏邪 斜褉芯褋邪褞褌 写褉褍蟹械泄, 写褉褍谐懈械 懈蟹 褋褌褉邪褏邪 锌褉械写邪褞褌 懈褏. 袣邪泻芯胁芯 薪邪褔邪谢芯, 褌邪泻芯胁 泻芯薪械褑, 懈薪邪褔械 懈 斜褘褌褜 薪械 屑芯卸械褌. 袣褌芯 锌芯写褉褍卸懈谢褋褟 褉邪写懈 胁褘谐芯写褘, 褌芯屑褍 斜褍写械褌 写芯褉芯谐邪 薪邪谐褉邪写邪 蟹邪 懈蟹屑械薪褍 写褉褍卸斜械, 泻芯谢褜 褋泻芯褉芯 懈 胁 薪械泄 斜褘谢芯 写芯褉芯谐芯 械屑褍 褔褌芯-薪懈斜褍写褜, 泻褉芯屑械 薪械械 褋邪屑芯泄. 袛谢褟 褔械谐芯 锌褉懈芯斜褉械褌邪褞 褟 写褉褍谐邪? 效褌芯斜褘 斜褘谢芯 蟹邪 泻芯谐芯 褍屑械褉械褌褜, 蟹邪 泻械屑 锌芯泄褌懈 胁 懈蟹谐薪邪薪褜械, 蟹邪 褔褜褞 卸懈蟹薪褜 斜芯褉芯褌褜褋褟 懈 芯褌写邪褌褜 卸懈蟹薪褜. 袗 写褉褍卸斜邪, 芯 泻芯褌芯褉芯泄 褌褘 锌懈褕械褕褜, 褌邪, 褔褌芯 蟹邪泻谢褞褔邪械褌褋褟 褉邪写懈 泻芯褉褘褋褌懈 懈 褋屑芯褌褉懈褌, 褔褌芯 屑芯卸薪芯 胁褘谐邪写邪褌褜, 鈥� 褝褌芯 薪械 写褉褍卸斜邪, 邪 褋写械谢泻邪. "
袝褋褌褜 谢懈 写褉褍卸斜邪, 褔褌芯斜褘 斜褘谢芯 蟹邪 泻芯谐芯 褍屑械褉械褌褜 懈谢懈 锌芯泄褌懈 胁 懈蟹谐薪邪薪懈械 - 胁芯锌褉芯褋 褋锌芯褉薪褘泄, 薪芯 薪邪褋褔褢褌 褌芯谐芯, 褔褌芯 胁芯泻褉褍谐 褍褋锌械褕薪褘褏 褌芯谢锌邪 懈褖褍褖懈褏 懈褏 写褉褍卸斜褘, 泻芯褌芯褉褘械 屑谐薪芯胁械薪薪芯 懈褋锌邪褉褟褞褌褋褟, 泻芯谐写邪 褍褋锌械褕薪褘泄 薪械泻芯谐写邪 褔械谢芯胁械泻 锌械褉械褋褌邪谢 斜褘褌褜 褌邪泻芯胁褘屑 - 褔懈褋褌邪褟 锌褉邪胁写邪, 泻邪泻 懈 褌芯, 褔褌芯 写褉褍卸斜邪 懈蟹 泻芯褉褘褋褌懈 - 褝褌芯 褋写械谢泻邪.
袙 胁芯锌褉芯褋邪褏 锌褉械写芯锌褉械写械谢褢薪薪芯褋褌懈 小械薪械泻邪 锌褉懈斜谢懈卸邪械褌褋褟 泻 褏褉懈褋褌懈邪薪褋褌胁褍, 锌芯蟹懈褑懈褟 褋褌芯懈泻芯胁 泻 褋邪屑芯褍斜懈泄褋褌胁褍 薪械 屑芯卸械褌 斜褘褌褜 芯锌褉邪胁写邪薪薪芯泄, 邪 谢褞斜芯胁褜 泻 蟹薪邪薪懈褟屑 懈 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎懈懈 薪邪褏芯写懈褌 芯褌泻谢懈泻 胁 写褍褕械. 袣薪懈谐邪 写懈褋泻褍褋褋懈芯薪薪邪, 薪芯 懈屑械薪薪芯 谐械薪械褉懈褉褍褞褕邪褟 褋锌芯褋芯斜薪芯褋褌褜 泻 褉邪蟹写褍屑褜褟屑 懈 褉芯卸写邪械褌 谢褞斜芯胁褜 泻 屑褍写褉芯褋褌懈 - 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎懈褞.
袛邪薪薪邪褟 褉械褑械薪蟹懈褟 薪械 褟胁谢褟械褌褋褟 邪泻邪写械屑懈褔械褋泻芯泄, 邪 谢懈褕褜 芯斜褖懈械 胁锌械褔邪褌谢械薪懈褟 褔懈褌邪褌械谢褟, 薪械 褟胁谢褟褞褖械谐芯 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎芯屑.
袧械褋屑芯褌褉褟 薪邪 屑芯褉邪谢懈蟹邪褌芯褉褋泻懈泄 褋褌懈谢褜, 屑薪芯谐懈械 薪邪褋褌邪胁谢械薪懈褟 芯褔械薪褜 褌芯褔薪褘 胁 薪邪斜谢褞写械薪懈懈.
"小 泻械屑 屑褘 褋芯褕谢懈褋褜 褉邪写懈 锌芯谢褜蟹褘, 屑懈谢 薪邪屑, 谢懈褕褜 锌芯泻褍写邪 锌芯谢械蟹械薪. 袙芯褌 锌芯褔械屑褍 胁芯泻褉褍谐 褌芯谐芯, 褔褜懈 写械谢邪 锌褉芯褑胁械褌邪褞褌, 鈥� 褌芯谢锌邪 写褉褍蟹械泄, 邪 胁芯泻褉褍谐 锌芯褌械褉锌械胁褕懈褏 泻褉褍褕械薪懈械 鈥� 锌褍褋褌褘薪褟. 袛褉褍蟹褜褟 斜械谐褍褌 芯褌褌褍写邪, 谐写械 懈褋锌褘褌褘胁邪械褌褋褟 写褉褍卸斜邪. 袙芯褌 锌芯褔械屑褍 胁懈写懈屑 屑褘 褌邪泻 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯褋褌褘写薪褘褏 锌褉懈屑械褉芯胁, 泻芯谐写邪 芯写薪懈 懈蟹 褋褌褉邪褏邪 斜褉芯褋邪褞褌 写褉褍蟹械泄, 写褉褍谐懈械 懈蟹 褋褌褉邪褏邪 锌褉械写邪褞褌 懈褏. 袣邪泻芯胁芯 薪邪褔邪谢芯, 褌邪泻芯胁 泻芯薪械褑, 懈薪邪褔械 懈 斜褘褌褜 薪械 屑芯卸械褌. 袣褌芯 锌芯写褉褍卸懈谢褋褟 褉邪写懈 胁褘谐芯写褘, 褌芯屑褍 斜褍写械褌 写芯褉芯谐邪 薪邪谐褉邪写邪 蟹邪 懈蟹屑械薪褍 写褉褍卸斜械, 泻芯谢褜 褋泻芯褉芯 懈 胁 薪械泄 斜褘谢芯 写芯褉芯谐芯 械屑褍 褔褌芯-薪懈斜褍写褜, 泻褉芯屑械 薪械械 褋邪屑芯泄. 袛谢褟 褔械谐芯 锌褉懈芯斜褉械褌邪褞 褟 写褉褍谐邪? 效褌芯斜褘 斜褘谢芯 蟹邪 泻芯谐芯 褍屑械褉械褌褜, 蟹邪 泻械屑 锌芯泄褌懈 胁 懈蟹谐薪邪薪褜械, 蟹邪 褔褜褞 卸懈蟹薪褜 斜芯褉芯褌褜褋褟 懈 芯褌写邪褌褜 卸懈蟹薪褜. 袗 写褉褍卸斜邪, 芯 泻芯褌芯褉芯泄 褌褘 锌懈褕械褕褜, 褌邪, 褔褌芯 蟹邪泻谢褞褔邪械褌褋褟 褉邪写懈 泻芯褉褘褋褌懈 懈 褋屑芯褌褉懈褌, 褔褌芯 屑芯卸薪芯 胁褘谐邪写邪褌褜, 鈥� 褝褌芯 薪械 写褉褍卸斜邪, 邪 褋写械谢泻邪. "
袝褋褌褜 谢懈 写褉褍卸斜邪, 褔褌芯斜褘 斜褘谢芯 蟹邪 泻芯谐芯 褍屑械褉械褌褜 懈谢懈 锌芯泄褌懈 胁 懈蟹谐薪邪薪懈械 - 胁芯锌褉芯褋 褋锌芯褉薪褘泄, 薪芯 薪邪褋褔褢褌 褌芯谐芯, 褔褌芯 胁芯泻褉褍谐 褍褋锌械褕薪褘褏 褌芯谢锌邪 懈褖褍褖懈褏 懈褏 写褉褍卸斜褘, 泻芯褌芯褉褘械 屑谐薪芯胁械薪薪芯 懈褋锌邪褉褟褞褌褋褟, 泻芯谐写邪 褍褋锌械褕薪褘泄 薪械泻芯谐写邪 褔械谢芯胁械泻 锌械褉械褋褌邪谢 斜褘褌褜 褌邪泻芯胁褘屑 - 褔懈褋褌邪褟 锌褉邪胁写邪, 泻邪泻 懈 褌芯, 褔褌芯 写褉褍卸斜邪 懈蟹 泻芯褉褘褋褌懈 - 褝褌芯 褋写械谢泻邪.
袙 胁芯锌褉芯褋邪褏 锌褉械写芯锌褉械写械谢褢薪薪芯褋褌懈 小械薪械泻邪 锌褉懈斜谢懈卸邪械褌褋褟 泻 褏褉懈褋褌懈邪薪褋褌胁褍, 锌芯蟹懈褑懈褟 褋褌芯懈泻芯胁 泻 褋邪屑芯褍斜懈泄褋褌胁褍 薪械 屑芯卸械褌 斜褘褌褜 芯锌褉邪胁写邪薪薪芯泄, 邪 谢褞斜芯胁褜 泻 蟹薪邪薪懈褟屑 懈 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎懈懈 薪邪褏芯写懈褌 芯褌泻谢懈泻 胁 写褍褕械. 袣薪懈谐邪 写懈褋泻褍褋褋懈芯薪薪邪, 薪芯 懈屑械薪薪芯 谐械薪械褉懈褉褍褞褕邪褟 褋锌芯褋芯斜薪芯褋褌褜 泻 褉邪蟹写褍屑褜褟屑 懈 褉芯卸写邪械褌 谢褞斜芯胁褜 泻 屑褍写褉芯褋褌懈 - 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎懈褞.
袛邪薪薪邪褟 褉械褑械薪蟹懈褟 薪械 褟胁谢褟械褌褋褟 邪泻邪写械屑懈褔械褋泻芯泄, 邪 谢懈褕褜 芯斜褖懈械 胁锌械褔邪褌谢械薪懈褟 褔懈褌邪褌械谢褟, 薪械 褟胁谢褟褞褖械谐芯 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎芯屑.
September 13, 2012
Along with his tragedies, treatises and longer dialogues, the philosopher Seneca wrote 124 letters addressed to his friend Lucilius. Whether these letters were actually sent is unknown, but their style indicates that they were intended for publication at some point. These letters are really mini-essays in disguise, discussing Seneca鈥檚 Stoic beliefs and his outlook on life in general. This collection contains about a third of Seneca鈥檚 surviving letters, some of which are abridged.
For readers interested in Stoicism and Roman philosophy generally, I think these letters do just as good a job (if not better) of expressing Seneca鈥檚 beliefs as his dialogues do, and are more pleasant reading to boot. Stoicism (which had been around much longer than Seneca) held that men should live 鈥榠n accordance with nature,鈥� learning to live in conformity with the world as it is and accepting whatever fate should bring their way. People should value and cultivate reason, and discipline the pleasures and the passions. Only in this way can true happiness be achieved. The duties Stoicism glorified 鈥� courage, self-control, simple habits, rationality and obedience to the State 鈥� corresponded closely to traditional Roman values, and Stoicism was the most influential philosophy in the Roman world for a long time. To some degree, it contrasted with Epicurean thought, which placed more value on the pursuit of individual pleasure. But in his letters Seneca displayed a remarkably open mind regarding Epicurus and his disciples, and the two schools of thought were not entirely at odds.
Many of the values Stoicism promoted were universal ones with wide appeal. Also, although the Stoics believed in a supreme providence that governed the universe, they were not particularly concerned with how this force was labeled: nature, divine reason, god, destiny, etc. This flexibility helped Stoicism adapt and fit within all kids of belief systems. Interestingly, the early Christian Church (which was very disfavorably disposed to most pagan writings) viewed Seneca as 鈥榦ne of them鈥� for this reason. This popularity was to continue into medieval times 鈥� in the Inferno Dante placed Seneca in Limbo, the highest place a non-Christian could aspire to, and Queen Elizabeth I 鈥渄id much admire Senca鈥檚 wholesome advisings.鈥�
However, Seneca has had his critics too over the centuries. He preached simple living and a rejection of luxury in his writings, but Seneca was one of the most powerful men in Rome and one of the wealthiest in the Western world during his lifetime. He was Emperor Nero鈥檚 chief advisor, and 鈥榯he real master of the world鈥� for a while according to one modern writer. As chief imperial advisor, he almost certainly assisted Nero in the murder of the emperor鈥檚 own mother. Wealth and virtue are certainly not mutually exclusive, but extravagent wealth, advising a tyrant and being an accessory to murder do not scream good Stoic living. Whether Seneca lacked the courage of his own convictions, or was unable to practice what he preached, is at least in doubt. Also, Seneca is rarely (if ever) praised as a groundbreaking philosophical thinker. He did not invent Stoicism, but instead 鈥渟piritualized and humanized it鈥� in his writings. Readers expecting Plato or Aristotle will probably be disappointed.
But readers interested in learning about Stoicism in general will be well served by this book. As I said earlier, I thought these letters were on the whole better than Seneca鈥檚 longer dialogues (which are not really 鈥榙ialogues鈥� at all in any traditional sense, with one exception). As an introduction to Stoic philosophy, which was an important school of thought in the Greco-Roman world and beyond, you could do a lot worse. 3.5 stars.
For readers interested in Stoicism and Roman philosophy generally, I think these letters do just as good a job (if not better) of expressing Seneca鈥檚 beliefs as his dialogues do, and are more pleasant reading to boot. Stoicism (which had been around much longer than Seneca) held that men should live 鈥榠n accordance with nature,鈥� learning to live in conformity with the world as it is and accepting whatever fate should bring their way. People should value and cultivate reason, and discipline the pleasures and the passions. Only in this way can true happiness be achieved. The duties Stoicism glorified 鈥� courage, self-control, simple habits, rationality and obedience to the State 鈥� corresponded closely to traditional Roman values, and Stoicism was the most influential philosophy in the Roman world for a long time. To some degree, it contrasted with Epicurean thought, which placed more value on the pursuit of individual pleasure. But in his letters Seneca displayed a remarkably open mind regarding Epicurus and his disciples, and the two schools of thought were not entirely at odds.
Many of the values Stoicism promoted were universal ones with wide appeal. Also, although the Stoics believed in a supreme providence that governed the universe, they were not particularly concerned with how this force was labeled: nature, divine reason, god, destiny, etc. This flexibility helped Stoicism adapt and fit within all kids of belief systems. Interestingly, the early Christian Church (which was very disfavorably disposed to most pagan writings) viewed Seneca as 鈥榦ne of them鈥� for this reason. This popularity was to continue into medieval times 鈥� in the Inferno Dante placed Seneca in Limbo, the highest place a non-Christian could aspire to, and Queen Elizabeth I 鈥渄id much admire Senca鈥檚 wholesome advisings.鈥�
However, Seneca has had his critics too over the centuries. He preached simple living and a rejection of luxury in his writings, but Seneca was one of the most powerful men in Rome and one of the wealthiest in the Western world during his lifetime. He was Emperor Nero鈥檚 chief advisor, and 鈥榯he real master of the world鈥� for a while according to one modern writer. As chief imperial advisor, he almost certainly assisted Nero in the murder of the emperor鈥檚 own mother. Wealth and virtue are certainly not mutually exclusive, but extravagent wealth, advising a tyrant and being an accessory to murder do not scream good Stoic living. Whether Seneca lacked the courage of his own convictions, or was unable to practice what he preached, is at least in doubt. Also, Seneca is rarely (if ever) praised as a groundbreaking philosophical thinker. He did not invent Stoicism, but instead 鈥渟piritualized and humanized it鈥� in his writings. Readers expecting Plato or Aristotle will probably be disappointed.
But readers interested in learning about Stoicism in general will be well served by this book. As I said earlier, I thought these letters were on the whole better than Seneca鈥檚 longer dialogues (which are not really 鈥榙ialogues鈥� at all in any traditional sense, with one exception). As an introduction to Stoic philosophy, which was an important school of thought in the Greco-Roman world and beyond, you could do a lot worse. 3.5 stars.
March 11, 2024
Happiness is one serious matter
Seneca maintains that the greatest purpose in life is to achieve happiness, but not the empty and short-lived happiness of a fool while indulging in excessive pleasures or a carnivore when it comes across its prey, but rather a state of fearlessness, tranquility, self-control, and indifference to all that life brings.
The only way to accomplish this state of happiness is by living a virtuous and moral life, which means living in moderation and in harmony with nature.
Even though nature created us pure and free, Seneca believes that nobody is good by chance, as virtues, the ultimate good, can only be learned. Therefore, by a properly guided reason and clear consciousness we can attain this virtuousness that will lead us to wisdom; the gateway to happiness.
Besides the degree of indifference and detachment suggested by the Stoics along with the individual freedom to take one's own life, which gives this philosophy an esoteric feel to it, these Letters to Lucilius by Seneca are an excellent choice of a self-improvement book which I highly recommend.
Seneca maintains that the greatest purpose in life is to achieve happiness, but not the empty and short-lived happiness of a fool while indulging in excessive pleasures or a carnivore when it comes across its prey, but rather a state of fearlessness, tranquility, self-control, and indifference to all that life brings.
The only way to accomplish this state of happiness is by living a virtuous and moral life, which means living in moderation and in harmony with nature.
Even though nature created us pure and free, Seneca believes that nobody is good by chance, as virtues, the ultimate good, can only be learned. Therefore, by a properly guided reason and clear consciousness we can attain this virtuousness that will lead us to wisdom; the gateway to happiness.
Besides the degree of indifference and detachment suggested by the Stoics along with the individual freedom to take one's own life, which gives this philosophy an esoteric feel to it, these Letters to Lucilius by Seneca are an excellent choice of a self-improvement book which I highly recommend.
March 25, 2024
rip Seneca you would have loved stoic bros and their phonk edits on tiktok
April 9, 2017
This book was quite good. One would think that a collection of letters would have much material that is of little utility to those outside the correspondents, but that isn't the case.
Seneca was a notable later Stoic. Very little of the first generation of Stoics survive, and we are left with mainly later Stoics like Epictetus, Rufus and Seneca; some may also include Marcus Aurelius to that list as well. Seneca was probably not the typical Stoic; indeed, he actually quotes Epicurus more times in here than any other philosopher is even mentioned. One is tempted to consider Seneca a closet Epicurean. He seemed to have more respect for Epicurus' philosophy than he may have even cared to admit. It is of course possible that he quoted him because he was also well respected by Lucilius, his correspondent, as well. But, whatever the case, Seneca was open to other philosophical influences besides just the Stoical, and Epicurus is a notable secondary, if not a primary, influence.
Often these letters come across as highly aphoristic. I highlighted quite a few lines of pithy wisdom in here. Mainly, I would say, Seneca was given to ethical philosophy. While there are some metaphysical thoughts here and there, his main focus is in regards to living a good life. Many of his thoughts focus on the need to live simply, and, in typical Stoical fashion, to live according to nature. His philosophy of moderation is still highly relevant today, and maybe even more than it was then, because we have many more frivolous distractions than were available in his day. His thoughts on slaves and slavery were years of head of their time, maybe hundreds of years. His ideas on God are also often sublime. He does comment on Plato a bit, and at the end of this work, he even provides some discussion relating to physics and metaphysics.
A great book overall. I cannot find much in here that I took issue with, so I can see no reason to give the work less than 5 stars.
Seneca was a notable later Stoic. Very little of the first generation of Stoics survive, and we are left with mainly later Stoics like Epictetus, Rufus and Seneca; some may also include Marcus Aurelius to that list as well. Seneca was probably not the typical Stoic; indeed, he actually quotes Epicurus more times in here than any other philosopher is even mentioned. One is tempted to consider Seneca a closet Epicurean. He seemed to have more respect for Epicurus' philosophy than he may have even cared to admit. It is of course possible that he quoted him because he was also well respected by Lucilius, his correspondent, as well. But, whatever the case, Seneca was open to other philosophical influences besides just the Stoical, and Epicurus is a notable secondary, if not a primary, influence.
Often these letters come across as highly aphoristic. I highlighted quite a few lines of pithy wisdom in here. Mainly, I would say, Seneca was given to ethical philosophy. While there are some metaphysical thoughts here and there, his main focus is in regards to living a good life. Many of his thoughts focus on the need to live simply, and, in typical Stoical fashion, to live according to nature. His philosophy of moderation is still highly relevant today, and maybe even more than it was then, because we have many more frivolous distractions than were available in his day. His thoughts on slaves and slavery were years of head of their time, maybe hundreds of years. His ideas on God are also often sublime. He does comment on Plato a bit, and at the end of this work, he even provides some discussion relating to physics and metaphysics.
A great book overall. I cannot find much in here that I took issue with, so I can see no reason to give the work less than 5 stars.
December 29, 2019
In his book concering the time he spent in Auschwitz famous austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl came to the conclusion that when you're no longer able to change the situation you find yourself in, you are challenged to change yourself. Being a best-selling book this ethos dawned the rebirth of stoicism for a society which is desperately longing for a way to cope with all cruelties life serves up. Seneca provided the philosophical foundations and Frankl knew how to transpose them when being faced with the atrocities of the 20th century. 鈥淚f you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you鈥檙e needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person鈥�, as Seneca puts it.
The beauty of this book rests upon its ease. Everyone should be able to derive uplifting thoughts from it and stick with them while facing the chaos life throws at you at times. Don't regard suffering per se as an unnecessary part of life but as an opportunity to acquire meaning for the decisions and actions you take.
The beauty of this book rests upon its ease. Everyone should be able to derive uplifting thoughts from it and stick with them while facing the chaos life throws at you at times. Don't regard suffering per se as an unnecessary part of life but as an opportunity to acquire meaning for the decisions and actions you take.
February 6, 2024
I read this by the fire, each morning one short letter at a time. I enjoyed it not as the richest source of such novel and profound philosophical insight, and more as a daily meditation on topics worth holding close. A deep thinker, clear and talented writer.
"If you wish to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires."
***
Friends, on the first Tuesday of the month I send out a short newsletter with updates on my novel-in-progress, a glimpse of one writer's life in small-town coastal Tofino, and a link to the month's free eBooks of various authors. It鈥檚 my privilege to stay connected to those who appreciate my work. If interested, and to receive a free copy of , please sign up here:
"If you wish to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires."
***
Friends, on the first Tuesday of the month I send out a short newsletter with updates on my novel-in-progress, a glimpse of one writer's life in small-town coastal Tofino, and a link to the month's free eBooks of various authors. It鈥檚 my privilege to stay connected to those who appreciate my work. If interested, and to receive a free copy of , please sign up here:
August 20, 2015
No man鈥檚 good by accident. Virtue has to be learnt. Pleasure is a poor and petty thing. No value should be set on it: it鈥檚 something we share with dumb animals 鈥� the minutest, most insignificance creatures scutter after it. Glory鈥檚 an empty changeable thing, as fickle as the weather. Poverty鈥檚 no evil to anyone unless he kicks against it. Death is not an evil. What is it then? The one law mankind has that is free of all discrimination. Superstition is an idiotic heresy: it fears those it should love: it dishonours those it worships. For what difference does it make whether you deny the gods or bring them into disrepute? These are things which should be learnt and not just learnt but learnt by heart.
.::Stoic::.
Many of us are mistaken to think that word 鈥� Stoic 鈥� means inactive or even indifferent to Worldly pleasures, pains, and emotions. But, that is not entirely correct. It is all about bringing our soul to a state of inner calmness; In other words, ! Stoicism is not about avoiding emotions and pleasures but to judge with clear conscience and free ourselves from the unwanted or unneeded.
鈥淓njoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.鈥�
.::Seneca::.
Seneca is one of the famous Roman philosophers, following Zeno鈥檚 stoicism. Though Seneca is often believed or questioned to be not much of a stoic himself, these letters help us know how he might have lived his life stoic way.
Keeping aside his early life and his forced suicide 鈥�
.::Letters::.
'No man was ever wise by chance'
This collection of letters from Seneca is easily one of the pearls in the sea of stoicism (So, there are other pearls and the word 鈥渟ea鈥� here simply symbolizes the vastness) It is not undisputable how stoic Seneca is. But, what I think is that we should see if there is anything good we can learn from him, rather than questioning about his life. These letters are like soul-health-capsules to make your spirit grow better only when taken as prescribed and the ingested capsule simmers deep down within you.
鈥淎s it is with a play, so it is with life - what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is.鈥�
Seneca says, for better living and living free of filthy temptations and unrealistic desires, one should dedicate himself to her 鈥� philosophy 鈥� For which only she can save us! Well, Philosophy is not just about wisdom, but she also comprises Courage, Justice, and Temperance.
鈥淏ut only philosophy will wake us; only philosophy will shake us out of that heavy sleep. Devote yourself entirely to her. You're worthy of her, she's worthy of you-fall into each other's arms. Say a firm, plain no to every other occupation.鈥�
Each of these letters addresses a different topic or an emotion or an issue in a more detailed fashion, sometimes with the help of Epicurus, Virgil, etc鈥� His sayings on how to live and how one should not be afraid of the death which would visit one or one鈥檚 friends or family, rather acknowledging and welcoming it as if it were an expected guest whose visit has been only unpredictable!
This Inuit word I recently learnt, sort of, explains what Seneca has to say about the Death.
You want to live鈥攂ut do you know how to live? You are scared of dying鈥攁nd, tell me, is the kind of life you lead really any different from being dead?
Again, the way Seneca died or to be precise, the way he invited his death was something, I think, questionable or disputable. But, there is a lot to learn from these gems of letters. What I am saying is to take away what is good and take not what is not.
A good character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness.
Living in accordance with reason, nature and virtue, he says, is the way to live in harmony. Now, that is some difficult thought for most of us to even think of.
鈥淚f you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according what others think, you will never be rich.鈥�
I am going to see how much I myself can follow. But, it never hurts to try. Does it?
Be harsh with yourself at times...
July 23, 2024
This is probably the most famous of Seneca`s works and it`s still printed today. It contains 124 letters avowedly addressed to a friend, Lucilius. These short texts contain the most accessible exposition of the stoic philosophy in its Roman phase, and I read a Romanian translation by Ioana Costa. A way of life dedicated to self-rule, Stoicism was always influential in European thinking, especially Seneca`s version, even if the author was Nero`s teacher and one of the richest men in Rome. In the last decades, the Letters popularity has risen among philosophers and historians (after P. Hadot and M. Foucault), but also in public opinion, under the influence of personal development, marketing, and movies like Gladiator ( or ).
The texts are written in a direct style, easy to read and to adapt. I recommend them to anyone curious about Roman thinking and way of life. I suspend my judgment (a Stoic and skeptical habit) if Seneca`s Letters should be used as a code for living. I said that because I read them alongside an interesting commentary, one piece per day (). The commentary stressed the dramatic features of Seneca who played a role in his letters (more in another review to come).
I was attracted by the author`s analogy of philosophy with sports. This is the meaning of spiritual exercises which were stressed out by P. Hadot. The goal is to achieve spiritual independence, and for that, the student needs to be aware that there are things that depend on her, things that do not, and intermediate categories. In Seneca`s Letters, the ability to discern between essential and irrelevant objects is the path to wisdom.
Life is hard, tempting, and full of false promises, but there is also an underlying harmony between nature and culture stressed out in Seneca`s Letters. The wise is aware of it, but for most people, effort is required to understand how the world works and attune oneself to it. One way is memento more, an awareness of death which inspired the saying to live your day like it is the last of your life (see ). This wisdom is a moving target, Seneca emphasized the journey, in which strength of character is built by reason and discipline.
This self-examination is pushed to the most intensive limits, in which every reaction must be pondered by the care for spiritual independence. Stoicism is considered a heroic form of philosophy and impressed even Nietzsche. It has many drawbacks: maybe it`s too hard to apply, it may be self-centered or an illusion. I`m not sure if it is so practical or that the spiritual exercises are true instead of metaphors, but it is always a pleasant experience to read Seneca`s Letters.
The texts are written in a direct style, easy to read and to adapt. I recommend them to anyone curious about Roman thinking and way of life. I suspend my judgment (a Stoic and skeptical habit) if Seneca`s Letters should be used as a code for living. I said that because I read them alongside an interesting commentary, one piece per day (). The commentary stressed the dramatic features of Seneca who played a role in his letters (more in another review to come).
I was attracted by the author`s analogy of philosophy with sports. This is the meaning of spiritual exercises which were stressed out by P. Hadot. The goal is to achieve spiritual independence, and for that, the student needs to be aware that there are things that depend on her, things that do not, and intermediate categories. In Seneca`s Letters, the ability to discern between essential and irrelevant objects is the path to wisdom.
Life is hard, tempting, and full of false promises, but there is also an underlying harmony between nature and culture stressed out in Seneca`s Letters. The wise is aware of it, but for most people, effort is required to understand how the world works and attune oneself to it. One way is memento more, an awareness of death which inspired the saying to live your day like it is the last of your life (see ). This wisdom is a moving target, Seneca emphasized the journey, in which strength of character is built by reason and discipline.
This self-examination is pushed to the most intensive limits, in which every reaction must be pondered by the care for spiritual independence. Stoicism is considered a heroic form of philosophy and impressed even Nietzsche. It has many drawbacks: maybe it`s too hard to apply, it may be self-centered or an illusion. I`m not sure if it is so practical or that the spiritual exercises are true instead of metaphors, but it is always a pleasant experience to read Seneca`s Letters.
December 20, 2015
Hay algo muy gracioso que me pasa con Seneca. Lo leo y me parece poder vislumbrar como se puede intentar ser mejor persona. Sus consejos a Lucilo, y a quien lo lea, te ayudan a enfrentar tantas cosas distintas, la muerte, la amistad, la pol铆tica, la espiritualidad, los libros, etc etc, da mil consejos, y sobre todo lo que se te pueda ocurrir, tiene una opini贸n que te ayuda a entenderlo o enfrentarlo. Consejos pr谩cticos para la vida, o auto ayuda a la romana.
Bell铆simo y muy recomendado.
Bell铆simo y muy recomendado.
August 14, 2012
Seneca you wastrel! To teach of stoicism while living in such opulence. Eh-gads! Fabulous writing, I think I blushed unbeckoned during the blushing scene, and stop trying to get us all to give up oysters, they are both erotic and have the potential to profit a pearl or two. Unacceptable I say!
Also very forward thinking in regards to slavery I must say.
Also very forward thinking in regards to slavery I must say.
December 23, 2020
People have the wrong idea about Stoics, the ones with a capital 鈥楽鈥�, the philosophical ones, not those folks who go around making everyone uncomfortable because nothing bothers them鈥攚hich is what I used to think being a stoic was all about. It isn鈥檛.
In , author, Kevin Vost, recommends Seneca as an excellent guide for living a good life, free from these deadly vices. I agree with him. In the second letter, for example, he hit on one of my weaknesses, my gluttonous reading. Okay, booklady, if you would be a booklady and not a bookslut, you must heed the Master. (Seneca tried to teach another once and that student never learned his lessons. Rather, Nero became the very opposite of all Seneca tried to teach him: tyrant, matricide, and cruel to his subjects as well as his family*. I pray I do a better job of heeding the good advice in these letters!)
In these letters Seneca is writing to his young friend, Lucilius, on a wide range of topics, such as: Saving Time; True and False Friendship; the Terrors of Death; Sharing Knowledge; Crowds; the Good which Abides; Progress; the Futility of Learning Maxims; the Value of Retirement; Allegiance to Virtue; Quiet Conversation; the Proper Style for a Philosopher鈥檚 Discourse and the God within Us, just to name a few. There are over 120 letters (topics) and Seneca has excellent, straightforward and reasonable advice on every subject. Indeed, I would take him for a tutor over Socrates or Plato however much I enjoy reading those Greek philosophers. Call me lazy, but with Socrates you have to answer endless questions and Plato requires sifting through a plentitude of dialogs. And when you have done as those illustrious gentlemen bid, you still can鈥檛 be sure if the answer you have arrived at is what was intended.
With Seneca, there are no guessing games. He says what he has to say and then even clarifies his position/argument further by giving illustrative examples. Lovely!
This book can be read straight through or approached just one topic at a time. It isn鈥檛 a book to be rushed, nor ever completely finished, but returned to again and again.
Make friends with Seneca. He is an excellent teacher, a sage of the first order, someone I hope to meet in the afterlife. The way he talks about God, he knows Him.
Big mistake Nero!
*Nero is accused of many crimes which subsequent historians debate, but all agree he failed this marvelous teacher!
In , author, Kevin Vost, recommends Seneca as an excellent guide for living a good life, free from these deadly vices. I agree with him. In the second letter, for example, he hit on one of my weaknesses, my gluttonous reading. Okay, booklady, if you would be a booklady and not a bookslut, you must heed the Master. (Seneca tried to teach another once and that student never learned his lessons. Rather, Nero became the very opposite of all Seneca tried to teach him: tyrant, matricide, and cruel to his subjects as well as his family*. I pray I do a better job of heeding the good advice in these letters!)
In these letters Seneca is writing to his young friend, Lucilius, on a wide range of topics, such as: Saving Time; True and False Friendship; the Terrors of Death; Sharing Knowledge; Crowds; the Good which Abides; Progress; the Futility of Learning Maxims; the Value of Retirement; Allegiance to Virtue; Quiet Conversation; the Proper Style for a Philosopher鈥檚 Discourse and the God within Us, just to name a few. There are over 120 letters (topics) and Seneca has excellent, straightforward and reasonable advice on every subject. Indeed, I would take him for a tutor over Socrates or Plato however much I enjoy reading those Greek philosophers. Call me lazy, but with Socrates you have to answer endless questions and Plato requires sifting through a plentitude of dialogs. And when you have done as those illustrious gentlemen bid, you still can鈥檛 be sure if the answer you have arrived at is what was intended.
With Seneca, there are no guessing games. He says what he has to say and then even clarifies his position/argument further by giving illustrative examples. Lovely!
This book can be read straight through or approached just one topic at a time. It isn鈥檛 a book to be rushed, nor ever completely finished, but returned to again and again.
Make friends with Seneca. He is an excellent teacher, a sage of the first order, someone I hope to meet in the afterlife. The way he talks about God, he knows Him.
Big mistake Nero!
*Nero is accused of many crimes which subsequent historians debate, but all agree he failed this marvelous teacher!
September 27, 2024
"Seneka sveic savu Luc墨liju!" 124 v膿stules, kas sarakst墨tas gandr墨z pirms 2000 gadiem, bet par jaut膩jumiem, kas aktu膩li ar墨 m奴sdien膩s. Laikam visvair膩k aiz姆膿ra ideja par to, ka nevajag izniekot laiku. J膩dz墨vo piepild墨ta dz墨ve. K膩 saka Seneka, tas, kur拧 k募uvis vecs, bet dz墨vojis tuk拧u dz墨vi, ir nevis ilgi dz墨vojis, bet ilgi miris.
June 16, 2024
Letters From A Stoic is absolutely amazing, and its philosophical letters are precisely what I needed at this time. These timeless wisdom pack more punch than a triple shot of espresso and are as relevant today as they were in Ancient Rome.
馃
Now, I'm a hardcore fan of Marcus Aurelius. Meditations were a game-changer. I've dog-eared that book so much that it looks like it survived a small tornado. I've been recommending it left and right because of its wisdom-filled gospel. And then boom! I read Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, and whoa, I was fucking astounded! I found myself tabbing Seneca even more than Meditations, and I welcomed that type of predicament! 馃
Seneca has this way of making Stoicism super approachable. It's not just throwing big ideas out there. He's tying them into everyday life, which makes it very practical. He discusses handling emotions, juggling social obligations, and really living out those high Stoic ideals in ways that hit home hard. This man's take on FRIENDSHIP IS PURE GOLD . He talks about it not just as a nice-to-have, but as a core part of our human wiring that is essential for personal growth and true happiness. 馃
With Marcus Aurelius' introspective soliloquies, Meditations shows us the inner workings of the most powerful man of his time, which is as fascinating as it is raw. Marcus was writing for himself, so there's this stark honesty that's pretty unparalleled. In contrast, Seneca's Letters From A Stoic has a conversational tone that makes you feel like he's right there, chatting over coffee, doling out advice that's as actionable today as it was back in his time. 馃挴
I love both of these philosophers. Marcus gave me the no-nonsense, tough-love pep talk through his diaries, and Seneca brought the wisdom down to earth, making it super accessible and utterly compelling. Please don't ever put a gun to my head and make me choose between the two. They both offer brilliant insights that are just too good to pass up. 馃挕
Sorry, I can't help the comparisons. Just read both because they're AMAZING. The quotes are just tremendous. Too many to list in this review... 鉁嶏笍
Now, I'm a hardcore fan of Marcus Aurelius. Meditations were a game-changer. I've dog-eared that book so much that it looks like it survived a small tornado. I've been recommending it left and right because of its wisdom-filled gospel. And then boom! I read Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, and whoa, I was fucking astounded! I found myself tabbing Seneca even more than Meditations, and I welcomed that type of predicament! 馃
"If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you're needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person."
Seneca has this way of making Stoicism super approachable. It's not just throwing big ideas out there. He's tying them into everyday life, which makes it very practical. He discusses handling emotions, juggling social obligations, and really living out those high Stoic ideals in ways that hit home hard. This man's take on FRIENDSHIP IS PURE GOLD . He talks about it not just as a nice-to-have, but as a core part of our human wiring that is essential for personal growth and true happiness. 馃
"There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with."
With Marcus Aurelius' introspective soliloquies, Meditations shows us the inner workings of the most powerful man of his time, which is as fascinating as it is raw. Marcus was writing for himself, so there's this stark honesty that's pretty unparalleled. In contrast, Seneca's Letters From A Stoic has a conversational tone that makes you feel like he's right there, chatting over coffee, doling out advice that's as actionable today as it was back in his time. 馃挴
"Treat your inferiors in the way in which you would like to be treated by your own superiors."
I love both of these philosophers. Marcus gave me the no-nonsense, tough-love pep talk through his diaries, and Seneca brought the wisdom down to earth, making it super accessible and utterly compelling. Please don't ever put a gun to my head and make me choose between the two. They both offer brilliant insights that are just too good to pass up. 馃挕
"I shall show you a love philtre, compounded without drug or herb or witch's spell 鈥� it is this: if you wish to be loved, love."
Sorry, I can't help the comparisons. Just read both because they're AMAZING. The quotes are just tremendous. Too many to list in this review... 鉁嶏笍
"The mind has to be given some time off, but in such a way that it may be refreshed, not relaxed till it goes to pieces."
April 6, 2021
We should develop a fondness for some good man and keep him always before our eyes, to live as though he were watching and act in all things as though he could see. 鈥擡picurus (in 11.8)
__________
I send you greetings from my villa at Nomentum, wishing you excellence of mind. (110.1)
The work that I am doing is for posterity. (8.2)
__________
The right path, which I myself discovered late in life when weary from wandering, I now point out to others. (8.3)
The things I say will benefit you whether you like it or not. It鈥檚 time for a candid voice to reach you. (89.19)
This is how you should speak; this is how you should live . . . These should be our reflections, dear Lucilius, these are the ways to shape our minds. 10.4, 117.25)
__________
I will tell you what is my own state of mind when I read him: I yearn to challenge every stroke of fortune鈥攖o shout, 鈥淲hy let up fortune? do your worst! See, I am ready!鈥� (64.4)
All his work has progress as its goal, and excellence of mind. It does not look for applause. (100.11)
So this is what philosophy will do for you鈥攁nd indeed, I think it is the greatest gift of all: you will never regret what you have done . . . [Cf. To be able to enjoy one's past life is to live twice 鈥擬artial 10.23.7] . . . A mind made flawless, a mind that rivals the divine, that elevates itself above the human sphere and places nothing beyond itself . . . Do not judge yourself to be happy until all your joys arise from yourself, until, after viewing the objects of human competition, covetousness, and possessiveness, you find鈥擨 will not say nothing to prefer, but nothing to set your heart on. (115.18, 124.23,24)
__________
I will write more about the book when I have been over it a second time. (46.3)
I started reading Seneca's Letters for the second time at the start of last year. I started reading a couple of letters each day before bed, then stopped for whatever reason.
Read always from authors of proven worth; and if ever you are inclined to turn aside to others, return afterward to the previous ones. (2.4)
I then resumed and started reading a few first thing in the morning after I was fully dressed and perfumed and sat down with my cup of coffee. I think this is the best way to do it
What other endeavour do you have than to make yourself a better person each day鈥攖o lay aside some error, to come to understand that what you think are flaws in your situation are in fact flaws in yourself? (50.1)
No matter what is going on in your life, stresses, anxieties, whatever; reading Seneca every morning reminds you that you鈥檙e not seeing things clearly, that it鈥檚 really not as bad as you think it is
More things frighten us than really affect us, and we are more often afflicted in thought than in fact. (13.4)
That what you think is bad, is really only your opinion about the thing, not the thing itself. And your opinion is always within your power to control. Your mind is always within your power to control.
No one is happy who does not believe himself to be. 鈥擴nknown (9.21)
It鈥檚 not easy. Most times it鈥檚 incredibly difficult. And just reading Seneca, just reading Epictetus, just reading Marcus Aurelius won鈥檛 help you
There are two parts to virtue: one is the study of truth, and the other is action. (94.45)
You can鈥檛 just read these people鈥檚 works, scribbling down passages but not putting them to any use
Who regards his doctrine, not as a vain display of knowledge, but as a rule of life; who obeys himself and complies with his own precepts 鈥擟icero, Tusculan Disputations, 2.4
You need to apply them.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not easy!鈥� you say. No, it鈥檚 not. Maybe you鈥檙e addicted to something. Maybe you lost your job. Or a friend. Or a parent. Or a partner . . .
I frequently encounter people who think that what they themselves cannot do is impossible, and who say that our Stoic theories are beyond the capacities of human nature. I myself have a much higher opinion of human beings: they are actually capable of doing these thing, but they are unwilling. Has anyone who really made the effort ever found the task beyond him? Hasn鈥檛 it always been found easier in the doing? It is not the difficulty of things that saps our confidence, but our lack of confidence that creates the difficulty. (104.25-26) . . . In fact, though, there鈥檚 something else involved: our love for our own faults. We defend them and we would rather make excuses for them than shake them off. Human nature has been endowed with sufficient strength if only we use it. We have only to assemble our resources and get them all to fight on our behalf rather than against us. Inability is just an excuse; the real reason is unwillingness. (116.8)
So no, it's not easy. But it鈥檚 possible.
So many things to know: when will you learn them? When will you fix them in your mind so that they cannot be forgotten? When will you try them out? For these are not like other objets of study. With these, memorisation is not enough: you must out them into effect. The happy person is not the one who knows them but the one who performs them. (75.7)
So do it. Perform them. All you need is to be willing.
What do you need in order to be good? Willingness. (80.4)
You are hard at work, forgetting everything else and sticking to the single task of making yourself a better person every day. This I approve, and rejoice in it too. I urge you, indeed plead with you, to persevere. All the same, I have a warning for you. There are those whose wish is to be noticed rather than to make moral progress. Don鈥檛 be like them . . . (5.1)
I could keep going on and on and on but
I see there will be no end to this topic unless I just make an end. (87.11)
Farewell.
__________
P.S. I decided to share the list of quotes I noted down from here in a post on my website for others to use as they wish:
__________
Remind yourself often how fine a thing it is to reach the summit of life before you die, and then to be in peace as you wait out the remainder of your time, relying only on yourself. For once one possesses happiness, duration does not make it any happier . . . Would you like to know what it is that makes people greedy for the future? Not one of them yet belongs to himself. (32.3, 4)
These are the lessons you need to learn or, rather, take to heart. (123.17)
April 17, 2014
tl;dr: Classic philosophy, mixed with old-people-opinions
This is really good if you want to have a primer into Stoicism - the writing in these letters is straightforward, each letter handles two or three themes and is usually only a couple of pages long.
The annoying parts are Seneca's old-people-opinions, some of which are:
1. People who stay up all night are terrible
2. 'For it is silly [.] to spend one's time exercising the biceps'
3. Popular styles are terrible: 'It's object is to sway a mass audience'
4. Everything was better in the past and the present is bad ('The earth herself, untilled, was more productive, her yields being more than ample for the needs of peoples who did not raid each other.' etc. pp. - the same arguments 2000 years later repeated in the terrible Ishmael)
But, to quote the man,
And of these 'helpful pieces of teaching' the letters are chock-full.
Bonus best quote:
This is really good if you want to have a primer into Stoicism - the writing in these letters is straightforward, each letter handles two or three themes and is usually only a couple of pages long.
The annoying parts are Seneca's old-people-opinions, some of which are:
1. People who stay up all night are terrible
2. 'For it is silly [.] to spend one's time exercising the biceps'
3. Popular styles are terrible: 'It's object is to sway a mass audience'
4. Everything was better in the past and the present is bad ('The earth herself, untilled, was more productive, her yields being more than ample for the needs of peoples who did not raid each other.' etc. pp. - the same arguments 2000 years later repeated in the terrible Ishmael)
But, to quote the man,
We should hunt out the helpful pieces of teaching, and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application [..] and learn them so well that words become works.
And of these 'helpful pieces of teaching' the letters are chock-full.
Bonus best quote:
Lucius Piso was drunk from the very moment of his appointment as Warden of the City of Rome.
January 23, 2024
It took me just three reading sessions to get through this one & I can't help the impression I'll keep revisiting it regularly. I liked it more than Epictetus & quite likely even more than Marcus Aurelius - why so? Because it was quite clear that MA was writing "for himself", and Seneca has been trying to share his thoughts with 2nd party (Lucilius).
Apart from that, his observations & suggestions frequently feel surprisingly fresh & relevant. Few times I had the impression he's exactly nailing what I was thinking (e.g., about the nature of friendship), but frequently in a more concise & to-the-point way. This book doesn't cover 100% of the letters, just the ones that weren't too focused on Rome's geopolitics of Seneca's day, so it's hard to spot anything that would age badly here.
The language is very comprehensible & all the concepts covered are presented in a way that is approachable even for someone who wasn't familiar with a stoic doctrine before.
Strongly recommended - it's pure wisdom & stays as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.
Apart from that, his observations & suggestions frequently feel surprisingly fresh & relevant. Few times I had the impression he's exactly nailing what I was thinking (e.g., about the nature of friendship), but frequently in a more concise & to-the-point way. This book doesn't cover 100% of the letters, just the ones that weren't too focused on Rome's geopolitics of Seneca's day, so it's hard to spot anything that would age badly here.
The language is very comprehensible & all the concepts covered are presented in a way that is approachable even for someone who wasn't familiar with a stoic doctrine before.
Strongly recommended - it's pure wisdom & stays as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.
July 29, 2012
This is hard to rate because the book is loaded with valuable insights. There are several quotes that will apply to your life today.
That said, it was very hard to read. It is boring beyond belief. It took me months to get through it because I could only take a few pages at a time before my mind wondered off.
I don't think I got all there is to get from it in one read. This is more of a book that needs to be studied. Perhaps leave is laying on the coffee table and read a page or two a day with a high lighter.
I will probably read it many times over to let all the wisdom sink in, but this same information could be easily condensed into another book with fewer words, and better editing to appeal to modern day readers.
That said, it was very hard to read. It is boring beyond belief. It took me months to get through it because I could only take a few pages at a time before my mind wondered off.
I don't think I got all there is to get from it in one read. This is more of a book that needs to be studied. Perhaps leave is laying on the coffee table and read a page or two a day with a high lighter.
I will probably read it many times over to let all the wisdom sink in, but this same information could be easily condensed into another book with fewer words, and better editing to appeal to modern day readers.
February 16, 2025
Books read & reviewed: 7锔忊儯2锔忊儯馃4锔忊儯0锔忊儯0锔忊儯
鈺斺彝铃も彝鈺浓潃鈺气彝铃も彝鈺�
3锔忊儯馃専, just read meditations by Marcus Aurelius
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
鉃曗灃0锔忊儯1锔忊儯2锔忊儯3锔忊儯4锔忊儯5锔忊儯6锔忊儯7锔忊儯8锔忊儯9锔忊儯馃敓鉁栵笍鉃�
I've never really found anything 鉁╪ew鉁� like new new because it's not really new but it's still new but it's not really new new because meditations by marcus already exists and that introduces many new things which this one doesn't give any new new things. But i did like the style of all of the chapters being just letters addressed to something.
鉁э渐锞�: *鉁э渐锞�:*Pre-Read鉁э渐锞�: *鉁э渐锞�:*
~(Non-existent)~
鈺斺彝铃も彝鈺浓潃鈺气彝铃も彝鈺�
3锔忊儯馃専, just read meditations by Marcus Aurelius
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
鉃曗灃0锔忊儯1锔忊儯2锔忊儯3锔忊儯4锔忊儯5锔忊儯6锔忊儯7锔忊儯8锔忊儯9锔忊儯馃敓鉁栵笍鉃�
I've never really found anything 鉁╪ew鉁� like new new because it's not really new but it's still new but it's not really new new because meditations by marcus already exists and that introduces many new things which this one doesn't give any new new things. But i did like the style of all of the chapters being just letters addressed to something.
鉁э渐锞�: *鉁э渐锞�:*Pre-Read鉁э渐锞�: *鉁э渐锞�:*
~(Non-existent)~
July 28, 2018
This epistolary glimpse into Roman life between a retiring and reflecting upper echelon diplomat Seneca and a presumably peer and friend lays out in didactic form the tenants of Stoic philosophy as held by those among that elite school of thought. Seneca's tone indicates he's the elder more learned communicant proffering wisdom earned through experience as one in near proximity to both power and servanthood/slavery. He trots out all the main themes and ties them into regular day examples of how one ought conduct behavior as well thought processes to gird those actions. For instance how one should treat his slaves - mostly a golden rule aspect albeit master/slave dynamic. Much ado about death and the Socratic example of non-concern over when, how, but rather if it is good or/and satisfactory. To die well is the pinnacle of having lived well in getting there. Virtue must be sought for and learned by first overcoming the desires of self. Topics and antipathies like body/mind, soul/or lack thereof, city/state, ruler/slave, time/infinity are repeatedly woven into his missives like a series of mini-lectures building his overarching all or wholeness. There are fascinating commentaries on everyday life at the top of privileged status including food/drink/entertainment/architecture/dress/sexual mores/travel/etc., Politics gets its due of course. In referring to earlier Greek polity he muses: "Among human beings the highest merit means the highest position. So they used to choose their ruler for his character. (Just like today, right!?) Hence peoples were supremely fortunate when among them a man could never be more powerful than others unless he was a better man than they were. For there is nothing dangerous in a man's having as much power as he likes if he takes the view that he has power to do only what is his duty to do."
Well, so, even if Seneca's right Stoic ways were said to be often at odds with objective reality it doesn't detract from his firm understanding of and efforts to inculcate stoic equanimity as right path. Who can fault human aspiration towards righteousness falling off or short of full enactment. His words as rhetoric makes believable an enduring thought for living as well dying.
Well, so, even if Seneca's right Stoic ways were said to be often at odds with objective reality it doesn't detract from his firm understanding of and efforts to inculcate stoic equanimity as right path. Who can fault human aspiration towards righteousness falling off or short of full enactment. His words as rhetoric makes believable an enduring thought for living as well dying.
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