Mark therefore what my hopes are for you—no, rather, what I am promising myself, inasmuch as hope is merely the title of an uncertain blessing: I do not know any person with whom I should prefer you to associate rather than yourself.
I remember in what a great-souled way you hurled forth certain phrases, and how full of strength they were! I immediately congratulated myself and said: "These words did not come from the edge of the lips; these utterances have a solid foundation. This man is not one of the many; he has regard for his real welfare."
I remember in what a great-souled way you hurled forth certain phrases, and how full of strength they were! I immediately congratulated myself and said: "These words did not come from the edge of the lips; these utterances have a solid foundation. This man is not one of the many; he has regard for his real welfare."
Speak, and live, in this way; see to it that nothing keeps you down.
As for your former prayers, you may dispense the gods from answering them; offer new prayers; pray for a sound mind and for good health, first of soul and then of body. And of course you should offer those prayers frequently.
Call boldly upon God; you will not be asking him for that which belongs to another.
I suppose I become jaded by all the mediocrity, the indifference, and even the malice, such that I regularly need to be reminded how truly noble the human spirit can be. People will often point to certain extraordinary gifts or talents as signs of greatness, but I must remember that the calling to wisdom and virtue is universal, and it demands nothing more than an open mind and a loving heart.
If I look behind all the glitz and glamor, I will learn not to be so discouraged. Any one of us can practice courage and conviction, and far more people choose to do so than may at first seem apparent. We won’t always notice them, because they don’t always win fame or fortune, though it is precisely because they don’t seek such things that they possess genuine character.
I can almost feel along with Seneca here, having myself experienced the pride and joy of seeing a young person grow and then blossom. I learned the hard way that they do not achieve by jumping through hoops or winning trophies, and that their excellence lies rather in the formation of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice.
They can do so by trusting themselves, by being able to look at their faces in the mirror with respect, by becoming their own best friends. Then, and only then, will the decency and kindness within them flow outward to those around them.
Some people suggest that we pray for all sorts of external conveniences; I have known a few who constantly pray to be delivered from their enemies. As much as we might prefer such things, however, they are not necessary to live a good life. It is more than enough to nurture what we have inside us, and to hope for the opportunity to always act with a dignity of conscience.
To be rich may well require someone else being poor, and to be powerful may well require someone else being weak, but to do right never requires someone else being wronged. It only requires the development of what already belongs to me.
As for your former prayers, you may dispense the gods from answering them; offer new prayers; pray for a sound mind and for good health, first of soul and then of body. And of course you should offer those prayers frequently.
Call boldly upon God; you will not be asking him for that which belongs to another.
I suppose I become jaded by all the mediocrity, the indifference, and even the malice, such that I regularly need to be reminded how truly noble the human spirit can be. People will often point to certain extraordinary gifts or talents as signs of greatness, but I must remember that the calling to wisdom and virtue is universal, and it demands nothing more than an open mind and a loving heart.
If I look behind all the glitz and glamor, I will learn not to be so discouraged. Any one of us can practice courage and conviction, and far more people choose to do so than may at first seem apparent. We won’t always notice them, because they don’t always win fame or fortune, though it is precisely because they don’t seek such things that they possess genuine character.
I can almost feel along with Seneca here, having myself experienced the pride and joy of seeing a young person grow and then blossom. I learned the hard way that they do not achieve by jumping through hoops or winning trophies, and that their excellence lies rather in the formation of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice.
They can do so by trusting themselves, by being able to look at their faces in the mirror with respect, by becoming their own best friends. Then, and only then, will the decency and kindness within them flow outward to those around them.
Some people suggest that we pray for all sorts of external conveniences; I have known a few who constantly pray to be delivered from their enemies. As much as we might prefer such things, however, they are not necessary to live a good life. It is more than enough to nurture what we have inside us, and to hope for the opportunity to always act with a dignity of conscience.
To be rich may well require someone else being poor, and to be powerful may well require someone else being weak, but to do right never requires someone else being wronged. It only requires the development of what already belongs to me.
Written in 5/2012
IMAGE: Karl von Blaas, Allegory of Valor (1859)
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