Seneca, Moral Letters 68.1

Letter 68: On wisdom and retirement
 
I fall in with your plan; retire and conceal yourself in repose. But at the same time conceal your retirement also. 
 
In doing this, you may be sure that you will be following the example of the Stoics, if not their precept. But you will be acting according to their precept also; you will thus satisfy both yourself and any Stoic you please.
 
We Stoics do not urge men to take up public life in every case, or at all times, or without any qualification. 
 
Besides, when we have assigned to our wise man that field of public life which is worthy of him—in other words, the Universe—he is then not apart from public life, even if he withdraws; no, perhaps he has abandoned only one little corner thereof and has passed over into greater and wider regions; and when he has been set in the heavens, he understands how lowly was the place in which he sat when he mounted the curule chair or the judgment-seat. 
 
Lay this to heart—that the wise man is never more active in affairs than when things divine as well as things human have come within his ken. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 68 

 
Those who take the time to think about the meaning of the world will often find themselves as strangers to the world. If I wish to discover a deeper purpose, I may be discouraged by all the blind conformity around me, and if I find that I am different from the howling mob, I might just want to strike out on my own. Is it any wonder how many artists and philosophers are sorely tempted to become hermits? 
 
Some are surprised, therefore, at how Stoicism, a philosophy of introspection and self-reliance, also encourages us to be citizens of the world, to always take great care of our social responsibilities. This only begins to make more sense when we appreciate the Stoic reverence for the harmony of Nature, how the parts exist to work within the whole, and that we best improve ourselves when we assist others to improve themselves. 
 
What will make all the difference, however, is how we understand the essence of such a public participation. While the commonly accepted practice is to seek out attention by selling an image, and to shower ourselves with titles and honors, the Stoic knows that the true work is usually done in far more subtle and unassuming ways. A man is not defined by his external status, but by his internal character; how he inspires the good in others has far more to do the quality of his soul than the prestige of his rank.
 
Indeed, there will be times when the Stoic best serves his social calling by avoiding formal entanglements. His focus deepens as his perspective broadens, such that he may be seen to have retired from the field of business and politics, yet the noblest part of his vocation is just beginning. This only sounds ridiculous to those who continue to measure the world by decrees and balance sheets, oblivious to the necessity of character. 
 
I will not become a better citizen just by casting my vote, or by paying my taxes, or even by running for office. The engagements that matter are the humble bonds of friendship, a community built on the practice of virtue instead of accumulating greater power and wealth. Any man who loves God and who loves his neighbor is the genuine citizen, and he may have to forgo the trappings of prestige in order to do so. 

—Reflection written in 8/2013 

IMAGES: 

Giovanni Paolo Panini, View of the Roman Forum (1747) 

Giovanni Paolo Panini, View of the Colosseum (1747)