Seneca, On the Happy Life 20: Virtue Always as an End 2

. . . You are mistaken, therefore, when you ask me what it is on account of which I seek after virtue, for you are seeking for something above the highest. Do you ask what I seek from virtue? I answer, herself, for she has nothing better. She is her own reward.

Does this not appear great enough, when I tell you that the highest good is an unyielding strength of mind, wisdom, magnanimity, sound judgment, freedom, harmony, beauty? Do you still ask me for something greater, of which these may be regarded as the attributes?

Why do you talk of pleasures to me? I am seeking to find what is good for man, not for his belly; why, cattle and whales have larger bellies than he.

—Seneca the Younger, On the happy life, Chapter 9 (tr Stewart)

A wise woman I once knew liked to say, “we speak as if we were angels, but we live as if we were cattle.” We are sadly quite ready to make sweeping and noble claims of virtue in public, while at the same time pursuing base pleasures in private. We can only embrace what Seneca means here if we overcome that hypocritical temptation. Loving virtue for its own sake can’t just be expressed as a grand theory, but it must be lived as a daily practice.

This may seem inconceivable to many of us, but we can fully understand this from both ends, so to speak, from the cause, and from the consequence.

From the cause, consider simply what it means to be human. That same wise woman also told me there was a reason my head was at the top, and my guts were on the bottom. My nature isn’t merely to consume what is pleasant, but to live with an understanding of what is right and good. A human being only acts like a human being, and therefore is only fully himself, when everything he does is ordered by the knowledge of the truth and the love of the good.

From the consequence, consider the profound benefits of living this way. Nothing can be more stable, more serene, or more free than relying entirely upon the merits of my own thoughts, decisions, and actions. If I rely upon my virtue, which is completely within my own power, and no other conditions beyond it, I am truly my own master. Everything I desire is already mine, and nothing else can add or take from such harmony.

We may be baffled by such a practice, even as we mouth the words, because we are topsy-turvy, with our minds enslaved to our guts, and to the want of everything outside of us. It is only our flawed estimation, and the years of poor examples and bad habits, that keep us from genuine happiness.

I have always had a great love of all animals, as my family will confirm with exasperation, but as much as I admire a cow, or a whale, I will hardly respect a man for the size of his stomach. 

Written in 11/2004

Image: Anton Mauve (1838-1888), Landscape with Cattle