In basic terms, Stoicism teaches us that if we have the essentials and a strong inner spirit, we can radically accept and endure whatever circumstances the universe throws at us. . Seneca was a prominent Roman philosopher and playwright who published several essential works about Stoicism. Why be concerned about others, come to that, when you’ve outdone your own self? set aside now and then a number of days during which you will be content with the plainest of food, and very little of it, and with rough, coarse clothing, and will ask yourself, ‘Is this what one used to dread?’. “Enough” is the essentials for living – food, water, shelter, and clothing – and. It is incredible, Lucilius, how easily even great men can be carried away from the truth by the sheer pleasure of holding forth on a subject. While Stoicism wants to lessen the impact of external factors on our happiness, it does not tell us to avoid being troubled, which Seneca views as unrealistic, but rather to know that we will overcome these troubled feelings. We should be able to tell our friends things we only tell ourselves. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach. And the state of mind that looks on all activity as tiresome is not true repose, but a spineless inertia. Being content with enough as discussed above is an important piece. We should lead quietly by example and then help those curious rather than trying to proselytize. Seneca is one of the fathers of the Essay, a format he would practice in form of letter to his friends. Some philosophies aim to eliminate feeling those troubles at all. Once we’ve determined that we have a friend that is a good influence, and that our connection goes beyond utility, we must trust our friend absolutely. Great entry point for anyone into virtue ethics. The sections above cover the majority of the musings and lessons found in Letters from a Stoic. a philosopher, whose delivery – like his life – should be well-ordered; nothing can be well-regulated if it is done in a breakneck hurry. We can endure loss, and we will grow from it. It is an application of the core tenets of Stoicism from the perspective of one of the acclaimed practitioner, Seneca. Throughout his letters, Seneca contemplates the meaning of friendship, and how to make it ideal. Letters from a Stoic, which Seneca wrote toward the end of his life from approximately 63 AD to 65 AD, expands upon these lessons. A good character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness. We should spend our energy on, Next, we should consider our potential friend’s character. While Seneca does tell us that time away from a friend does help us grow fonder of them, he also reminds us that it’s key to appreciate them while they’re around – don’t take your friend for granted. On top of being happy with the essentials, developing our inner self is key. You ask what is the proper limit to a person’s wealth? . While Seneca does tell us that time away from a friend does help us grow fonder of them, he also reminds us that it’s key to appreciate them while they’re around – don’t take your friend for granted. Letters from a Stoic book. Once we’ve determined that we have a friend that is a good influence, and that our connection goes beyond utility, we must trust our friend absolutely. The power and wealth which Seneca the Younger (c.4 B.C. I also include new articles and book notes. Nobody can be in acute pain and feel it for long. There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with. Keep reading! . Associate with people who are likely to improve you. There’s no difference between the one and the other – you didn’t exist and you won’t exist – you’ve no concern with either period. Not one of us is perfect, and identifying which areas of ourselves we need to work on is crucial – if we don’t see the problems, how can we find the solutions? This, the summum bonum or ‘supreme ideal’, is usually summarized in ancient philosophy as a combination of four qualities: wisdom (or moral insight), courage, self-control and justice (or upright dealing). “Philosophy calls for simple living, not for doing penance, and the simple way of life need not be a crude one.”. Some men’s fear of being deceived has taught people to deceive them; by their suspiciousness they give them the right to do the wrong thing by them. Every person without exception has someone to whom he confides everything that is confided to himself. It moulds and builds the personality, orders one’s life, regulates one’s conduct, shows one what one should do and what one should leave undone, sits at the helm, and keeps one on the correct course as one is tossed about in perilous seas. This is why I look on people like this as a spiritless lot – the people who are forever acting as interpreters and never as creators, always lurking in someone else’s shadow. Our positions can change at any moment – slaves become masters, masters become slaves, princes become paupers, and so on — we should not look down on anyone based on our current, possibly temporary, positions. , we can radically accept and endure whatever circumstances the universe throws at us. Either way there’s an end to the pain. More active and commendable still is the person who is waiting for the daylight and intercepts the first rays of the sun; shame on him who lies in bed dozing when the sun is high in the sky, whose waking hours commence in the middle of the day – and even this time, for a lot of people, is the equivalent of the small hours. We have good reason to say: ‘I trust this finds you in pursuit of wisdom.’. Avoid binging on that whole bag of Doritos, basically. Later in life, he wrote Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, or Letters from a Stoic, detailing these principles in full. The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of … Seneca gives us guidelines on how to free ourselves from this mindset. With some people you only need to point to a remedy; others need to have it rammed into them. Limiting one’s desires actually helps to cure one of fear. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca. , which Seneca wrote toward the end of his life from approximately 63 AD to 65 AD, expands upon these lessons. Let our aim be a way of life not diametrically opposed to, but better than that of the mob. While some philosophical schools of thought teach that “enough” is meager food, a shack to live in, threadbare clothing and then learning how to be satisfied with that. His master, Epaphroditos, was a wealthy secretary to emperor Nero. Then we must judge who is worthy of being our friend. Lucilius asks for a breviarium, that is, a summary of the philosophy, but Seneca sends him a sumarium, that is, a list of authors that he must read in its entirety. It's a collection of fascinating finds from my week, usually about psychology, technology, health, philosophy, and whatever else catches my interest. “But when you are looking on anyone as a friend when you do not trust him as you trust yourself, you are making a grave mistake, and have failed to grasp sufficiently the full force of true friendship.”. Interestingly, Epictetus was not his real name. “Presumably” because many scholars have hypothesized that Seneca’s letters were “essays in disguise” – there is no evidence of Lucilius writing back to Seneca, and the letters’ style suggests that they were meant to be published rather than read by a friend. We are only “better” than one another due to the. We should learn from each other’s wisdom – what is the point of knowledge if we don’t share it? a plant which is frequently moved never grows strong. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca Book Review The great life is a real existence lived as per nature. Critical Summary. Now who should be considered worthy of being a friend? We are raised in a society that values ornamentation, so it may be tricky to rid ourselves of that desire. We are raised in a society that values ornamentation, so it may be tricky. Perhaps you will be cajoled, made fun of, or otherwise judged – peer pressured — by those who want to bring you to their level. We should learn from each other’s wisdom – what is the point of knowledge if we don’t share it? For a lot of us, being troubled by the outside world is one of those flaws. ‘Cease to hope,’ he says, ‘and you will cease to fear.’. Our goals should make sense to us, and we shouldn’t worry about others judging them, only about achieving them for our own purposes. Our bodies will eventually fail us as we age and illness strikes, but enduring these eventualities is easier when we have strong minds. To circumstance or to death? We’ve been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.”, “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.”, “It is not the man who has too little that is poor, but the one who hankers after more.”, “For the only safe harbor in this life’s tossing, troubled sea is to refuse to be bothered about what the future will bring and to stand ready and confident, squaring the breast to take without skulking or flinching whatever fortune hurls at us.”, “Barley porridge, or a crust of barley bread, and water do not make a very cheerful diet, but nothing gives one keener pleasure than having the ability to derive pleasure even from that– and the feeling of having arrived at something which one cannot be deprived of by any unjust stroke of fortune.”, “I have withdrawn from affairs as well as from society, and from my own affairs in particular: I am acting on behalf of later generations. I am writing down a few things that may be of use to them.”, “‘I shall show you,’ said Hecato, ‘a love philtre compounded without drug or herb or witch’s spell. Seneca says that we should eat nutritious, nourishing food, but only enough to keep our bodies in good health and our stomachs full – we shouldn’t stuff ourselves nor eat extravagant meals just because we can. © Nathaniel Eliason, 2020 | You're looking great today | This site built on, Get My Searchable Collection of 200+ Book Notes, Get My Searchable Collection of 250+ Book Notes. We should, surround ourselves with people we seek to be like. We are attracted by wealth, pleasures, good looks, political advancement and various other welcoming and enticing prospects: we are repelled by exertion, death, pain, disgrace and limited means. First, having what is essential, and second, having what is enough. This mob mentality is not only dangerous to others, but to our own character. indulge the body just so far as suffices for good health. This next lesson is key. People who spend their whole life travelling abroad end up having plenty of places where they can find hospitality but no real friendships. With this trust and loyalty, we can allow ourselves to. We can celebrate, holidays for example, with others if we are determined to avoid indulgence in excess, as well as to avoid becoming too involved in groupthink. ? This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on Letters from a Stoic Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium by Seneca the Younger. Bragging about this lifestyle not only defeats part of the essence of the lifestyle, as showing off to others is an external form of validation rather than inner, but it also may alienate others from trying it out. —Seneca, Letters from a Stoic. Seneca’s letters are one of our favorite stoic reflections so we put into a collection some of the most important stoic concepts that Seneca discussed in the letters and the most beautiful pieces of advice he gave to Lucilius. No one should feel pride in anything that is not his own. While Stoicism wants to lessen the impact of external factors on our happiness, it does not tell us to avoid being troubled, which Seneca views as unrealistic, but rather to know that we will overcome these troubled feelings. This is our big mistake: to think we look forward to death. Remaining dry and sober takes a good deal more strength of will when everyone about one is puking drunk; it takes a more developed sense of fitness, on the other hand, not to make of oneself a person apart, to be neither indistinguishable from those about one nor conspicuous by one’s difference, to do the same things but not in quite the same manner. Often beginning with observations on daily life, the letters focus on many traditional themes of Stoic philosophy, such as the contempt of death, the value of friendship and virtue as the supreme good. Letters From a Stoic review. Print. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca. In “Of Clemency” Seneca he develops his reflections on the power of the state and on the difference between the tyrant and the good king. He is credited with inventing the essay format, and the content of his letters have been useful to many people after his time. Be always pointing him out to yourself either as your guardian or as your model. But Seneca reminds us that, the judgments of others do not matter as much as our own, – we must strive to live with virtue and integrity, because at the end of the day, ? Think of being encouraged to down shot after shot at a party, or the mobs of old gathering their pitchforks in united bloodlust. All foolishness suffers the burden of dissatisfaction with itself.”, “Happy the man who improves other people not merely when he is in their presence but even when he is in their thoughts.”. A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is. We should surround ourselves with people we seek to be like, who will help us improve and grow, rather than those who may negatively impact our lives. Also, we should not base the friendship on how useful the friendship is, even if the friendship is useful to both parties. Tell them of all the things men do that they would blush at sober, and that drunkenness is nothing but a state of self-induced insanity. He also emphasizes the importance of being your own friend; that the person who befriends themselves will never be alone and will be a friend of all. It doesn’t matter if we are surrounded by tons of friends if we don’t have a deep understanding of any. But nothing is as ruinous to the character as sitting away one’s time at a show – for it is then, through the medium of entertainment, that vices creep into one with more than usual ease. Intuitively, it also makes sense. If there were anything substantial in them they would sooner or later bring a sense of fullness; as it is they simply aggravate the thirst of those who swallow them.”. The fact that the body is lying down is no reason for supposing that the mind is at peace. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Latin for "Moral Letters to Lucilius"), also known as the Moral Epistles and Letters from a Stoic, is a collection of 124 letters that Seneca the Younger wrote at the end of his life, during his retirement, after he had worked for the Emperor Nero for more than ten years. ‘Any man,’ he says, ‘who 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.’, ‘We need to set our affections on some good man and keep him constantly before our eyes, so that we may live as if he were watching us and do everything as if he saw what we were doing.’. Well does it stop you suffering it if you endure it in a womanish fashion? ... Summary Notes. While we of course can counsel those who are in a bad place, we should be wary of allowing them to come so close that we are affected by their negativity. These are Seneca’s lessons on friendship – from how they begin to their very ends. My own advice to you – and not only in the present illness but in your whole life as well – is this: refuse to let the thought of death bother you: nothing is grim when we have escaped that fear. As for anxiety – worrying about the future – that does not help either. Crowds can lead us to indulge in our vices in ways we may not on our own. Trust breeds trust. With this trust and loyalty, we can allow ourselves to grow a truly meaningful relationship. Classic text from the Hellenistic Greek philosophy known as Stoicism. First, we must acknowledge that we are all equals. Once we know we can handle life without these things, we can be free from the fear of losing them. Thank you! Start cultivating a relationship with poverty. Comforting thoughts (provided they are not of a discreditable kind) contribute to a person’s cure; anything which raises his spirits benefits him physically as well. – it is an important full-time job, not something we should shove to the side in favor of other tasks. Read More on Amazon Read the Original Get My Searchable Collection of 200+ Book Notes. While we of course can counsel those who are in a bad place, we should be wary of allowing them to come so close that we are affected by their negativity. But Seneca reminds us that the judgments of others do not matter as much as our own – we must strive to live with virtue and integrity, because at the end of the day it is ourselves we must face. For a holiday can be celebrated without extravagant festivity. The best thing we can do is fortify ourselves and know that. ‘How can you wonder your travels do you no good, when you carry yourself around with you? Letters from a Stoic by Seneca. Despite his relatively undistinguished background and ever-recurrent ill health, he rose rapidly to prominence at Rome, pursuing the double career in ‘If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to people’s opinions, you will never be rich.’. We are not better than others due to our circumstances, our occupation, or our place in our society. Is our potential friend a good influence? Crowds can lead us to indulge in our vices in ways we may not on our own. Crowds can lead us to losing control of ourselves, However, Seneca does not urge us to isolate ourselves from all of society. It’s not because they’re hard that we lose confidence; they’re hard because we lack the confidence. With afflictions of the spirit, though, the opposite is the case: the worse a person is, the less he feels it. Our positions can change at any moment – slaves become masters, masters become slaves, princes become paupers, and so on — we should not look down on anyone based on our current, possibly temporary, positions. But the right thing is to shun both courses: you should neither become like the bad because they are many, nor be an enemy of the many because they are unlike you. While grief is only natural, we should not succumb to it. Think of being encouraged to down shot after shot at a party, or the mobs of old gathering their pitchforks in united bloodlust. Anyone entering our homes should admire us rather than our furnishings. Check out all the bonuses or sign up below. Finally, we should always remind ourselves that it doesn’t matter how cool our things are, or exotic our surroundings are – if we are miserable with ourselves, we will be miserable wherever we go. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca. The story is told that someone complained to Socrates that travelling abroad had never done him any good and received the reply: ‘What else can you expect, seeing that you always take yourself along with you when you go abroad?’ What a blessing it would be for some people if they could only lose themselves! Is our potential friend a good influence? Avoid shabby attire, long hair, an unkempt beard, an outspoken dislike of silverware, sleeping on the ground and all other misguided means to self-advertisement.