Seneca, Moral Letters 13.2

This is the touchstone of such a spirit; no prizefighter can go with high spirits into the strife if he has never been beaten black and blue; the only contestant who can confidently enter the lists is the man who has seen his own blood, who has felt his teeth rattle beneath his opponent's fist, who has been tripped and felt the full force of his adversary's charge, who has been downed in body but not in spirit, one who, as often as he falls, rises again with greater defiance than ever.

 

So then, to keep up my figure, Fortune has often in the past got the upper hand of you, and yet you have not surrendered, but have leaped up and stood your ground still more eagerly. For manliness gains much strength by being challenged; nevertheless, if you approve, allow me to offer some additional safeguards by which you may fortify yourself.

 

Honestly, when I first read a passage like this, I have a knee-jerk reaction. I don’t like tough talk, and I have little patience for folks who brag about how much damage they can bear. Machismo sounds to me more like the braying of asses than the roaring of lions. 

 

As always, however, I need to look more closely, because strength of will is a necessary condition for character. It turns out that what frustrates me is not toughness at all, but toughness for all the wrong reasons. 

 

There are some who use their power for violence, and others who use their power for peace. A man who has no confidence in himself will lash out by putting down others, while a man who knows how to love will raise everyone up. 

 

Yes, give me courage! When I now pray to God, I no longer ask for things, and I no longer demand what I want. I request only that I be given what I need, and I understand quite well that this will include a fine dose of suffering. 

 

Now what am I to do in the face of pain? Some will play it as victims, and others will be consumed by their rage, yet I choose to turn it around, to transform the agony into ecstasy. There can be found the muscle that matters, the sort of bravery that is worth praising. 

 

Is your hand strong enough to beat someone down? Is your will strong enough to offer a firm embrace?

 

A strength in the body is completely pointless without a strength in the soul. You could be a superstar by pushing people around. You could also be a saint by loving them.

 

Theodore Roosevelt seemed like a stranger to me, until I finally saw that there was some substance to his style. 

 

Does it hurt? Good. Now do something about it.  

 

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

Written in 6/2012