Seneca, Moral Letters 23.5

But it is hard to keep within bounds in that which you believe to be good. The real good may be coveted with safety.

 

Do you ask me what this real good is, and whence it derives? I will tell you: it comes from a good conscience, from honorable purposes, from right actions, from contempt of the gifts of chance, from an even and calm way of living which treads but one path. 

 

For men who leap from one purpose to another, or do not even leap but are carried over by a sort of hazard—how can such wavering and unstable persons possess any good that is fixed and lasting?

 

There are only a few who control themselves and their affairs by a guiding purpose; the rest do not proceed; they are merely swept along, like objects afloat in a river. 

 

And of these objects, some are held back by sluggish waters and are transported gently; others are torn along by a more violent current; some, which are nearest the bank, are left there as the current slackens; and others are carried out to sea by the onrush of the stream.

 

Therefore, we should decide what we wish, and abide by the decision. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 23

 

When deciding on the sort of life I wish to pursue, does it seem reasonable to follow the path that is the most unpredictable, treacherous, and subject to the fancies of others? Why am I putting my trust in everything except the content of my own character? 

 

If the experts didn’t promise me otherwise, I would be sure I was setting myself up for failure. 

 

If I brush aside all the distractions, I can concentrate on my very essence. I am no more and no less than a being of free judgement, such that the quality of my existence is for me to choose, however the other conditions may present themselves. 

 

It is my moral worth, therefore, the way I go about discovering meaning and value, that is most important 

 

Whether or not I got the job, or made the shrewd investment, or won the fame, did I conduct myself with integrity, modesty, and justice? Where is the use in gaining anything on the outside, if it means I have lost something on the inside? 

 

As clever or as lucky as I might think myself to be, the worldly profit merely brings me harm in the absence of a conscience. 

 

It’s a shame when living by principle, which is the act of taking responsibility for oneself, is twisted into a self-righteous moralizing, which is the act of seeking power over others.

 

When I am uncertain about the difference, I ask myself if I could continue to be at peace with my promises, even if absolutely no one else is paying attention. Demagogues and bullies must always be seen to be dominant, even as they aren’t really being good. 

 

Yes, to live with virtue requires commitment, and I imagine that many of us fail to do so because we don’t believe it to be worth the effort. Yet only an honest and rigorous reflection on who I am and why I am here will keep me from being swept along by the currents of fortune. 

 

I return to one of my favorite lines from Chesterton: “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." 

—Reflection written in 9/2012