No man ought to glory except in that which is his own. We praise a vine if it makes the shoots teem with increase, if by its weight it bends to the ground the very poles which hold its fruit; would any man prefer to this vine one from which golden grapes and golden leaves hang down?
In a vine the virtue peculiarly its own is fertility; in man also we should praise that which is his own. Suppose that he has a retinue of comely slaves and a beautiful house, that his farm is large and large his income; none of these things is in the man himself; they are all on the outside.
Praise the quality in him which cannot be given or snatched away, that which is the peculiar property of the man. Do you ask what this is? It is soul, and reason brought to perfection in the soul. For man is a reasoning animal. Therefore, man's highest good is attained, if he has fulfilled the good for which nature designed him at birth.
And what is it which this reason demands of him? The easiest thing in the world—to live in accordance with his own nature.
But this is turned into a hard task by the general madness of mankind; we push one another into vice. And how can a man be recalled to salvation, when he has none to restrain him, and all mankind to urge him on? Farewell.
In a vine the virtue peculiarly its own is fertility; in man also we should praise that which is his own. Suppose that he has a retinue of comely slaves and a beautiful house, that his farm is large and large his income; none of these things is in the man himself; they are all on the outside.
Praise the quality in him which cannot be given or snatched away, that which is the peculiar property of the man. Do you ask what this is? It is soul, and reason brought to perfection in the soul. For man is a reasoning animal. Therefore, man's highest good is attained, if he has fulfilled the good for which nature designed him at birth.
And what is it which this reason demands of him? The easiest thing in the world—to live in accordance with his own nature.
But this is turned into a hard task by the general madness of mankind; we push one another into vice. And how can a man be recalled to salvation, when he has none to restrain him, and all mankind to urge him on? Farewell.
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 41
I’m afraid I do know some people who wish that money grew on trees, and many people who at least act as if it did, but those are the folks who aren’t willing to untangle their preferences from their principles. Since they choose to act on impressions alone, they neglect to consider the inherent dignity of a being’s nature.
When I catch myself wishing that a thing was somehow different, I realize it’s time for a tune-up in my thinking.
Whether I happen to like it or not, the vine is made to produce grapes, not gold, and I should respect it on its own terms. It’s much like the fact that people will be as they will be, regardless of what I want them to be—think of how many failed relationships could have been saved by heeding that lesson!
A plant has the nature of nutrition, growth, and reproduction and an animal adds to this the nature of locomotion, sensation, and appetite. Now how can I decide what a human identity adds to the mix? The very way I have asked the question provides the answer, and so a reflection upon my own actions reveals my nature.
I am a creature of reason and of will, defined by the capacity to understand, and thereby to choose based upon that understanding. Despite all the other circumstances that may enter into my life, such as where I happen to live or how much property I might possess, the human essence lies within the power to live according to a deliberate awareness of the true and the good.
Am I acting in harmony with my own nature, and consequently with the totality of Nature? Then I am rising to virtue. Am I acting in opposition to my own nature, and consequently to the totality of Nature? Then I am descending into vice.
Prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice: these are the critical factors, from which any other benefits can then be derived. The qualities on the inside are the measure of the situation on the outside, such that the Stoic is concerned first with forming his character, and he is accordingly “indifferent” to all other variables—he can take them or leave them. It is a matter of discovering what is absolute and what is relative.
The only obstacle to the task comes from a peculiarity of our freedom, that we are tempted to follow the herd instead of forging our own paths, to choose mindlessness over mindfulness.
In nurturing the soul within, a man awakens the God within.
I’m afraid I do know some people who wish that money grew on trees, and many people who at least act as if it did, but those are the folks who aren’t willing to untangle their preferences from their principles. Since they choose to act on impressions alone, they neglect to consider the inherent dignity of a being’s nature.
When I catch myself wishing that a thing was somehow different, I realize it’s time for a tune-up in my thinking.
Whether I happen to like it or not, the vine is made to produce grapes, not gold, and I should respect it on its own terms. It’s much like the fact that people will be as they will be, regardless of what I want them to be—think of how many failed relationships could have been saved by heeding that lesson!
A plant has the nature of nutrition, growth, and reproduction and an animal adds to this the nature of locomotion, sensation, and appetite. Now how can I decide what a human identity adds to the mix? The very way I have asked the question provides the answer, and so a reflection upon my own actions reveals my nature.
I am a creature of reason and of will, defined by the capacity to understand, and thereby to choose based upon that understanding. Despite all the other circumstances that may enter into my life, such as where I happen to live or how much property I might possess, the human essence lies within the power to live according to a deliberate awareness of the true and the good.
Am I acting in harmony with my own nature, and consequently with the totality of Nature? Then I am rising to virtue. Am I acting in opposition to my own nature, and consequently to the totality of Nature? Then I am descending into vice.
Prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice: these are the critical factors, from which any other benefits can then be derived. The qualities on the inside are the measure of the situation on the outside, such that the Stoic is concerned first with forming his character, and he is accordingly “indifferent” to all other variables—he can take them or leave them. It is a matter of discovering what is absolute and what is relative.
The only obstacle to the task comes from a peculiarity of our freedom, that we are tempted to follow the herd instead of forging our own paths, to choose mindlessness over mindfulness.
In nurturing the soul within, a man awakens the God within.
—Reflection written in 1/2013
No comments:
Post a Comment