Therefore, those who, as Sallust puts it, "hearken to their bellies," should be numbered among the animals, and not among men; and certain men, indeed, should be numbered, not even among the animals, but among the dead.
He really lives who is made use of by many; he really lives who makes use of himself. Those men, however, who creep into a hole and grow torpid are no better off in their homes than if they were in their tombs. Right there on the marble lintel of the house of such a man you may inscribe his name, for he has died before he is dead. Farewell.
He really lives who is made use of by many; he really lives who makes use of himself. Those men, however, who creep into a hole and grow torpid are no better off in their homes than if they were in their tombs. Right there on the marble lintel of the house of such a man you may inscribe his name, for he has died before he is dead. Farewell.
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 60
Due to an underlying melancholy, I also have an unfortunate tendency to misanthropy. When I see men behaving as if they were brutes, consumed by lust and rage, I am tempted to say that I have given up on the human race. How is it possible for people to be so thoughtless and careless?
No, let me first cease to be thoughtless and careless myself! It is not the presence of humanity that disturbs me, but rather its absence, so when I encounter those who are forgetful of their own natures, compassion is far more fitting than rejection. Think more of what a man can be, and less of how he may fall short.
If my neighbor chooses to seek pleasure over principle, I may compare him to a beast, yet the contrast is far more extreme. At least the animal lives according to its own instincts, and yet a man negates his very identity when he abandons wisdom and love.
While there is a certain poetry to the image of a voracious man being like a wolf, or a lazy man being like an ass, it would be more fitting to say that he is no longer among the living at all—he is drained of his vital essence.
Instead of cursing him, I should wish for him to regain his purpose, and perhaps I can help him to do so, in some small way, by standing firm in my own. That something has been corrupted is a call for its recovery, not an excuse for it to be thrown way.
As soon as I pray to receive more profit or comfort, I too am now among the dead. It is better if I ask for guidance in how I might more fully learn to give of myself. As Marcus Aurelius said:
It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this life, when your body does not give way.
Due to an underlying melancholy, I also have an unfortunate tendency to misanthropy. When I see men behaving as if they were brutes, consumed by lust and rage, I am tempted to say that I have given up on the human race. How is it possible for people to be so thoughtless and careless?
No, let me first cease to be thoughtless and careless myself! It is not the presence of humanity that disturbs me, but rather its absence, so when I encounter those who are forgetful of their own natures, compassion is far more fitting than rejection. Think more of what a man can be, and less of how he may fall short.
If my neighbor chooses to seek pleasure over principle, I may compare him to a beast, yet the contrast is far more extreme. At least the animal lives according to its own instincts, and yet a man negates his very identity when he abandons wisdom and love.
While there is a certain poetry to the image of a voracious man being like a wolf, or a lazy man being like an ass, it would be more fitting to say that he is no longer among the living at all—he is drained of his vital essence.
Instead of cursing him, I should wish for him to regain his purpose, and perhaps I can help him to do so, in some small way, by standing firm in my own. That something has been corrupted is a call for its recovery, not an excuse for it to be thrown way.
As soon as I pray to receive more profit or comfort, I too am now among the dead. It is better if I ask for guidance in how I might more fully learn to give of myself. As Marcus Aurelius said:
It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this life, when your body does not give way.
—Reflection written in 6/2013
No comments:
Post a Comment