The Death of Marcus Aurelius

The Death of Marcus Aurelius

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Seneca, On Peace of Mind 15.3


Add to this that he who laughs at the human race deserves better of it than he who mourns for it, for the former leaves it some good hopes of improvement, while the latter stupidly weeps over what he has given up all hopes of mending.

He who after surveying the Universe cannot control his laughter shows, too, a greater mind than he who cannot restrain his tears, because his mind is only affected in the slightest possible degree, and he does not think that any part of all this apparatus is either important, or serious, or unhappy.

A willingness to laugh at the world can certainly go hand in hand with the Stoic value of indifference, in the sense that I should not think too highly of either fortune or misfortune. I can take them, or I can leave them, with the full understanding that they will neither make me nor break me.

My cheerfulness arises from being aware that the world does not need to trouble me so much, in contrast to the tears that come from letting myself be overwhelmed. If I take the burden to be light, I will smile as I trot along, and I will only feel dread if I allow it to weigh me down.

Most importantly, if I remember that I can always transform any and all circumstances into something good for me, I will not find them so intimidating; it will only lead to despair if I surrender to the circumstances.

I might be tempted to smile when I receive pleasure, and to frown when I receive pain, but I can choose to go much deeper than that. What is often called a “positive attitude” does not have to mean the I only expect good things to happen to me, since I am conscious of the fact that whatever happens is only as good as what I make of it.

My own virtue or vice will decide the worth of the situation, and so it is within my power to achieve a far more profound form of joy.

The point is never to deny or to repress my feelings, but to form my judgments in such a way that I build up a mastery over those feelings. How I think about myself and my world will, in turn, affect my passions, such that I will naturally find contentment whenever I consciously discover the good in something.

And so, when I work to perceive that there is always a benefit to be found in every state of affairs, I will be far more inclined to laugh instead of cry.

It has never helped me to force a smile, though it is so much easier to smile when I have the priorities of my thinking in order. The Stoic will, therefore, hardly be a sourpuss.

Written in 12/2011

IMAGE: Peter Paul Rubens, Democritus and Heraclitus (1603)

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