Seneca, Moral Letters 22.4

Now, I suppose, you are looking for a Stoic motto also. There is really no reason why anyone should slander that school to you on the ground of its rashness; as a matter of fact, its caution is greater than its courage. 

You are perhaps expecting the sect to utter such words as these: "It is base to flinch under a burden. Wrestle with the duties which you have once undertaken. No man is brave and earnest if he avoids danger, if his spirit does not grow with the very difficulty of his task."

Words like these will indeed be spoken to you, if only your perseverance shall have an object that is worthwhile, if only you will not have to do or to suffer anything unworthy of a good man; besides, a good man will not waste himself upon mean and discreditable work or be busy merely for the sake of being busy. 

Neither will he, as you imagine, become so involved in ambitious schemes that he will have continually to endure their ebb and flow. No, when he sees the dangers, uncertainties, and hazards in which he was formerly tossed about, he will withdraw—not turning his back to the foe, but falling back little by little to a safe position. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 22

Stoicism is indeed a philosophy that prescribes a full dose of fortitude, quite a welcome remedy for the usual frailty of bowing to convenience. I run the grave danger, however, of confusing the virtue of courage with the vice of insensitivity, and of twisting a commitment to my convictions into a callous bullying. 

I imagine that Lucilius prefers the vigor of the Stoic message, yet even here Seneca continues to warn him about becoming thoughtless and reckless. The greater context is easily lost, such that confidence then outruns caring. Indeed, it turns out that restraint can often be the most profound form of bravery; how much more challenging it is to stand back than to fly off the handle! 

I am especially wary of abusing Stoic principles as a pretext for a brutal machismo: then I might pretend I am righteous while I merely bask in my power. I sense a tickle of anger when I come across those who claim that being real men calls for imposing our desires and crushing our enemies, and now I am painfully aware of how easily I can fall for such boasting and raging. 

The drive and the determination are only as good as the dignity of the ends to which they are directed. Be strong in being loving, be firm in offering forgiveness; this includes the tenacity to love and to forgive myself. Where is the gain, for anyone involved, if my judgment is a condemnation instead of an acceptance? What will become of me when the evenness of a Stoic indifference is reduced to a cruel disdain? 

 

Toughness in winning riches and status is not fortitude, but folly. When I bemoan the hardship of being caught up in the lives of grasping men, this is now a sign of how I should carefully distance myself from their vain ambitions. 

 

Depending upon what is at stake, a retreat can become a victory instead of a defeat. Walking away from my unhealthy fixation on the goods of the body is ultimately a boon for the goods of the soul. 

—Reflection written in 9/2012