This being so, you should consider whether one has a right to call anything good in which God is outdone by man.
Let us limit the Supreme Good to the soul; it loses its meaning if it is taken from the best part of us and applied to the worst, that is, if it is transferred to the senses; for the senses are more active in dumb beasts.
The sum total of our happiness must not be placed in the flesh; the true goods are those which reason bestows, substantial and eternal; they cannot fall away, neither can they grow less or be diminished.
Other things are goods according to opinion, and though they are called by the same name as the true goods, the essence of goodness is not in them. Let us therefore call them "advantages," and, to use our technical term, "preferred" things.
Let us, however, recognize that they are our chattels, not parts of ourselves; and let us have them in our possession, but take heed to remember that they are outside ourselves.
Even though they are in our possession, they are to be reckoned as things subordinate and poor, the possession of which gives no man a right to plume himself. For what is more foolish than being self-complacent about something which one has not accomplished by one's own efforts?
Let us limit the Supreme Good to the soul; it loses its meaning if it is taken from the best part of us and applied to the worst, that is, if it is transferred to the senses; for the senses are more active in dumb beasts.
The sum total of our happiness must not be placed in the flesh; the true goods are those which reason bestows, substantial and eternal; they cannot fall away, neither can they grow less or be diminished.
Other things are goods according to opinion, and though they are called by the same name as the true goods, the essence of goodness is not in them. Let us therefore call them "advantages," and, to use our technical term, "preferred" things.
Let us, however, recognize that they are our chattels, not parts of ourselves; and let us have them in our possession, but take heed to remember that they are outside ourselves.
Even though they are in our possession, they are to be reckoned as things subordinate and poor, the possession of which gives no man a right to plume himself. For what is more foolish than being self-complacent about something which one has not accomplished by one's own efforts?
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 74
I’ve said it before, and I’m afraid I’ll keep saying it: we get terribly confused about God when we apply limits to the notion of the Absolute. That which is the measure of all is itself beyond any measure, and so Is the fullness of Being in all its possible forms. Once I conceive of the Divine, the only necessity, as without any boundaries whatsoever, what presents itself as so big and transcendent then also becomes so small and immanent.
“Doesn’t God get bored?”
What is perfect can never be exhausted.
“If God is so great, why would he even care about me?”
Because nothing is insignificant for that which is total.
“It must be so annoying for God not to have a body like mine!”
No, the flesh as we experience it is the constraint. As the Peripatetic might say, it is a principle of mere potency, not of pure act.
The sensitive, whether the impressions be external or internal, is a far narrower sort of awareness, and for us only a steppingstone to the power of reason, through which we grasp the identity behind the appearance. The beast will often have the sharper senses, for that is its proper mode, while a man is further gifted with the deeper capacity to understand.
The human good, in its essence, will be found in the rightful exercise of our simple human nature, and will be lost to us as soon as we break ourselves into fragments, a multitude of means without an overarching end. That good is in wisdom and virtue, by which all other qualities must be judged: there is nothing in this world that can harm a man if he is of fine character, and nothing in this world that can benefit him if he is of poor character.
Even after many years of learning about Stoicism, I still catch myself calling something “good” when I really mean that it is something I happen to prefer. As long as I keep my priorities straight, the sloppy language can be forgiven, but I daily see the grief that comes from mistaking a preference for a principle. As much as I may have a taste for money and fame, I should be willing to take them or to leave them, depending entirely upon how they affect the state of my soul.
I grow tired of being told how my worth flows from the wine I drink, or the neighborhood where I live, or the party flag I happen to wave about. These are all quite secondary to the virtues, such that only prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice make any difference in this life. Assess the conditions on the outside by the integrity on the inside.
I’ve said it before, and I’m afraid I’ll keep saying it: we get terribly confused about God when we apply limits to the notion of the Absolute. That which is the measure of all is itself beyond any measure, and so Is the fullness of Being in all its possible forms. Once I conceive of the Divine, the only necessity, as without any boundaries whatsoever, what presents itself as so big and transcendent then also becomes so small and immanent.
“Doesn’t God get bored?”
What is perfect can never be exhausted.
“If God is so great, why would he even care about me?”
Because nothing is insignificant for that which is total.
“It must be so annoying for God not to have a body like mine!”
No, the flesh as we experience it is the constraint. As the Peripatetic might say, it is a principle of mere potency, not of pure act.
The sensitive, whether the impressions be external or internal, is a far narrower sort of awareness, and for us only a steppingstone to the power of reason, through which we grasp the identity behind the appearance. The beast will often have the sharper senses, for that is its proper mode, while a man is further gifted with the deeper capacity to understand.
The human good, in its essence, will be found in the rightful exercise of our simple human nature, and will be lost to us as soon as we break ourselves into fragments, a multitude of means without an overarching end. That good is in wisdom and virtue, by which all other qualities must be judged: there is nothing in this world that can harm a man if he is of fine character, and nothing in this world that can benefit him if he is of poor character.
Even after many years of learning about Stoicism, I still catch myself calling something “good” when I really mean that it is something I happen to prefer. As long as I keep my priorities straight, the sloppy language can be forgiven, but I daily see the grief that comes from mistaking a preference for a principle. As much as I may have a taste for money and fame, I should be willing to take them or to leave them, depending entirely upon how they affect the state of my soul.
I grow tired of being told how my worth flows from the wine I drink, or the neighborhood where I live, or the party flag I happen to wave about. These are all quite secondary to the virtues, such that only prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice make any difference in this life. Assess the conditions on the outside by the integrity on the inside.
—Reflection written in 10/2013
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