Seneca, On Peace of Mind 7.2

You must decide whether your disposition is better suited for vigorous action or for tranquil speculation and contemplation, and you must adopt whichever the bent of your genius inclines you for.

Isocrates laid hands upon Ephorus and led him away from the forum, thinking that he would be more usefully employed in compiling chronicles; for no good is done by forcing one's mind to engage in uncongenial work: it is vain to struggle against Nature.

The rhetorician Isocrates, sometimes called the “Good Sophist”, convinced Ephorus that he would make a better writer than a speaker, not because the pay and the benefits would be better, but because it was what best suited his particular gifts and strengths.

Some might do their best in the public square, while others might do their best in their private rooms, and all can play their specific parts, different in calling but equal in significance.

Remember that Serenus has been worried that he will have to withdraw from the political life, left only to waste away in his own studies. Seneca has reminded him that we must always be in service to others, though we may find ourselves fulfilling that mission in varying ways.

No action that serves Nature, however obscure it may seem, is ever meaningless.

My own journey has been marked by the expectation that I could be somebody by going out into the world, and was then tempered by the realization that I was never cut for that sort of work.

At first I wanted to be a popular musician, but I didn’t have the knack. Then I wanted to be a best-selling writer, but my words were never the ones anyone wanted to read. Then I ended up being a teacher, but the way I taught rocked the boat far too much. These were all dead ends for me.

There finally came a point where I put a few things together. The folks with the most impressive appearances always told me to worry most about my appearances, but were those the only folks to listen to? Those who were silent, unnoticed, and behind the scenes had just as much to say.

As always, it came down to considering what was really best in life: was it in the seeming or in the doing? Did it matter if the doing didn’t result in any seeming?

The Stoic Turn, as I like to call it, requires a reshuffling of priorities. Have you acted with wisdom and love? Then you have succeeded. Have you been paid or praised for it? It doesn’t matter one bit.

Isocrates understood that each person is made, raised, and grows in a certain way. He was a true master in the art of speaking, yet he insisted that the power of rhetoric be joined to philosophy, to the love of truth. If he had not been given that ability, I am certain he would have found another way to serve the truth.

In school, they like to give us aptitude tests, intended to determine how we might manage to make the most money and win the most fame.

In life, Nature has already given us an answer, because it is Providence that has made us, with beauty and with glory in our own special way.

Will you make executive decisions to change the course of history? Perhaps you may then do some good. Will you show love to your friends while you clean up the trash? You have then certainly done some good.

Written in 8/2011

IMAGE: Isocrates