Letter 44: On philosophy and pedigrees
You are again insisting to me that you are a nobody, and saying that nature in the first place, and fortune in the second, have treated you too scurvily, and this in spite of the fact that you have it in your power to separate yourself from the crowd and rise to the highest human happiness! If there is any good in philosophy, it is this—that it never looks into pedigrees.
All men, if traced back to their original source, spring from the gods. You are a Roman knight, and your persistent work promoted you to this class; yet surely there are many to whom the fourteen rows are barred; the senate-chamber is not open to all; the army, too, is scrupulous in choosing those whom it admits to toil and danger.
But a noble mind is free to all men; according to this test, we may all gain distinction.
You are again insisting to me that you are a nobody, and saying that nature in the first place, and fortune in the second, have treated you too scurvily, and this in spite of the fact that you have it in your power to separate yourself from the crowd and rise to the highest human happiness! If there is any good in philosophy, it is this—that it never looks into pedigrees.
All men, if traced back to their original source, spring from the gods. You are a Roman knight, and your persistent work promoted you to this class; yet surely there are many to whom the fourteen rows are barred; the senate-chamber is not open to all; the army, too, is scrupulous in choosing those whom it admits to toil and danger.
But a noble mind is free to all men; according to this test, we may all gain distinction.
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 44
I believe I know a little something of how Lucilius feels. I have often been envious that I wasn’t born with certain aptitudes, or resentful about the cards I was dealt. How does he do it so effortlessly? Why does she always get her way?
Like Lucilius, I am confused about where true “success” lies, and so I protest that it has been denied me, when all along my happiness was right there for the taking.
It takes time to learn that the character within my power always trumps the circumstances outside my power, because it requires unlearning layers upon layers of bad habits. Then I can finally close the divide between the theory and the practice.
I might say I am a nobody, and yet I remain clueless about what it even means to be a somebody. It is only when I discern my human nature that any progress becomes possible.
While there is truth to the saying that I can be anyone I want to be, this properly applies to my thoughts and deeds, which are mine, and not to the workings of fortune, which play by their own rules. I am I, and I do both myself and others a disservice by expecting the world to conform to my will.
Though many people will submit themselves to whatever is fashionable, it is philosophy that can permit me to rely upon my own merits. I must correctly define philosophy, of course, for otherwise it becomes just another exercise in jumping through hoops and climbing ladders.
I actually laughed out loud when I first read this letter, since most of the “philosophers” I know are exclusively driven by a love of status and pedigree, and in this they are no different from most lawyers, doctors, or politicians.
No, a genuine love of wisdom is not inherited, or acquired by a fancy degree, or concerned with keeping up appearances, and it is within the ability of any man who is willing to think openly and honestly for himself.
I don’t have to be brainy, rich, influential, well-spoken, or handsome to practice philosophy. The basic human gifts of a mind and a will are sufficient, for it concerns the most basic human vocation, not the privileges of rank.
We all come from the same place, and we need merely strip away the fineries to see how class is an illusion.
Lucilius has been offered many worldly opportunities, as have I, despite my complaints. Lucilius must also realize the limits of what his position, or any position, can bring him, as must I. By all means, make use of the chances that come from a lucky break, while also recognizing how such boundaries are quite secondary to the real task at hand.
No man is irrelevant who seeks to know himself, and thereby to increase his virtues. The only possible waste comes from getting caught up in the distractions.
I believe I know a little something of how Lucilius feels. I have often been envious that I wasn’t born with certain aptitudes, or resentful about the cards I was dealt. How does he do it so effortlessly? Why does she always get her way?
Like Lucilius, I am confused about where true “success” lies, and so I protest that it has been denied me, when all along my happiness was right there for the taking.
It takes time to learn that the character within my power always trumps the circumstances outside my power, because it requires unlearning layers upon layers of bad habits. Then I can finally close the divide between the theory and the practice.
I might say I am a nobody, and yet I remain clueless about what it even means to be a somebody. It is only when I discern my human nature that any progress becomes possible.
While there is truth to the saying that I can be anyone I want to be, this properly applies to my thoughts and deeds, which are mine, and not to the workings of fortune, which play by their own rules. I am I, and I do both myself and others a disservice by expecting the world to conform to my will.
Though many people will submit themselves to whatever is fashionable, it is philosophy that can permit me to rely upon my own merits. I must correctly define philosophy, of course, for otherwise it becomes just another exercise in jumping through hoops and climbing ladders.
I actually laughed out loud when I first read this letter, since most of the “philosophers” I know are exclusively driven by a love of status and pedigree, and in this they are no different from most lawyers, doctors, or politicians.
No, a genuine love of wisdom is not inherited, or acquired by a fancy degree, or concerned with keeping up appearances, and it is within the ability of any man who is willing to think openly and honestly for himself.
I don’t have to be brainy, rich, influential, well-spoken, or handsome to practice philosophy. The basic human gifts of a mind and a will are sufficient, for it concerns the most basic human vocation, not the privileges of rank.
We all come from the same place, and we need merely strip away the fineries to see how class is an illusion.
Lucilius has been offered many worldly opportunities, as have I, despite my complaints. Lucilius must also realize the limits of what his position, or any position, can bring him, as must I. By all means, make use of the chances that come from a lucky break, while also recognizing how such boundaries are quite secondary to the real task at hand.
No man is irrelevant who seeks to know himself, and thereby to increase his virtues. The only possible waste comes from getting caught up in the distractions.
—Reflection written in 2/2013
IMAGE: Nicolai Abildgaard, Philosophy (1800)
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