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Friday, August 11, 2023

Seneca and Nero


The expressions on their faces speak volumes to me about the inner struggle between virtue and vice, between self-control and self-indulgence. 

Some like to say that Nero was Seneca's greatest failure, and yet from a Stoic perspective I wonder if it is better to say that Nero was Nero's greatest failure, for Seneca was busy working on Seneca. Every man makes himself, and the sage can only offer a nudge to the fool. 

Peter Paul Rubens, Seneca and Nero (c. 1617) 



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