Leisure without study is death; it is a tomb for the living man. What then is the advantage of retirement? As if the real causes of our anxieties did not follow us across the seas! What hiding place is there, where the fear of death does not enter? What peaceful haunts are there, so fortified and so far withdrawn that pain does not fill them with fear?
Wherever you hide yourself, human ills will make an uproar all around. There are many external things which compass us about, to deceive us or to weigh upon us; there are many things within which, even amid solitude, fret and ferment.
Therefore, gird yourself about with philosophy, an impregnable wall. Though it be assaulted by many engines, Fortune can find no passage into it. The soul stands on unassailable ground, if it has abandoned external things; it is independent in its own fortress; and every weapon that is hurled falls short of the mark. Fortune has not the long reach with which we credit her; she can seize none except him that clings to her.
Let us then recoil from her as far as we are able. This will be possible for us only through knowledge of self and of the world of Nature. The soul should know whither it is going and whence it came, what is good for it and what is evil, what it seeks and what it avoids, and what is that Reason which distinguishes between the desirable and the undesirable, and thereby tames the madness of our desires and calms the violence of our fears.
Wherever you hide yourself, human ills will make an uproar all around. There are many external things which compass us about, to deceive us or to weigh upon us; there are many things within which, even amid solitude, fret and ferment.
Therefore, gird yourself about with philosophy, an impregnable wall. Though it be assaulted by many engines, Fortune can find no passage into it. The soul stands on unassailable ground, if it has abandoned external things; it is independent in its own fortress; and every weapon that is hurled falls short of the mark. Fortune has not the long reach with which we credit her; she can seize none except him that clings to her.
Let us then recoil from her as far as we are able. This will be possible for us only through knowledge of self and of the world of Nature. The soul should know whither it is going and whence it came, what is good for it and what is evil, what it seeks and what it avoids, and what is that Reason which distinguishes between the desirable and the undesirable, and thereby tames the madness of our desires and calms the violence of our fears.
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 82
This is yet another one of the many Stoic passages that puts a spring in my step. While it may sound odd to some, since the topic seems so severe, I have found that there is no greater aid to a peace of mind than always being conscious of the higher purpose. I return to the Stoic philosophers, time and time again, not just because their theory is sound, but because it invariably works in practice. If I am sincere about it, there is nothing a good attitude can’t fix.
I take note of the people around me who are itching to retire, in the belief that they are miserable because they have to work. I then compare them to the people around me who have already retired, and so many of them are miserable because they can’t find anything worth living for. Neither labor nor leisure will make us happy, if we do not first attend to our principles.
Who am I? What do I want? Where am I going? No task will be too big or too small, too dreadful or too boring, as long as I am grounded in genuine meaning and value. The questions must be asked humbly, and then they must be unraveled carefully, without fear or presumption. I begin to learn, slowly but surely, why character can be invincible. It is the source of certain joy.
It does not require the pretensions of an academic, only the commitment of one who lives with responsibility. Study need not be treated like a chore, and the calling can instead become a privilege. Whatever conditions the world may throw our way, we all have it within our power to rule our own judgments, so that no hardship can defeat us, unless we submit to it freely.
If Seneca’s military imagery isn’t inspiring, the language of romantic love can work just as well. What suitor will not go through hell or high water to serve his dearest? What is so remarkable is that he always appears to confront the obstacles with a smile on his face, and he is not even disheartened by the prospect of death.
There is no avoiding the fact that fortune is fickle, and no amount of fiddling about with the circumstances can ever change that. Moving to a new town, or taking up a new job, or running away to the hills still leaves the soul starved of the virtues. Only philosophy, in its broadest and deepest sense, provides the necessary sustenance; where there is an understanding of what is true, and thereby a love of what is good, there is also the strength to rise above the fray.
This is yet another one of the many Stoic passages that puts a spring in my step. While it may sound odd to some, since the topic seems so severe, I have found that there is no greater aid to a peace of mind than always being conscious of the higher purpose. I return to the Stoic philosophers, time and time again, not just because their theory is sound, but because it invariably works in practice. If I am sincere about it, there is nothing a good attitude can’t fix.
I take note of the people around me who are itching to retire, in the belief that they are miserable because they have to work. I then compare them to the people around me who have already retired, and so many of them are miserable because they can’t find anything worth living for. Neither labor nor leisure will make us happy, if we do not first attend to our principles.
Who am I? What do I want? Where am I going? No task will be too big or too small, too dreadful or too boring, as long as I am grounded in genuine meaning and value. The questions must be asked humbly, and then they must be unraveled carefully, without fear or presumption. I begin to learn, slowly but surely, why character can be invincible. It is the source of certain joy.
It does not require the pretensions of an academic, only the commitment of one who lives with responsibility. Study need not be treated like a chore, and the calling can instead become a privilege. Whatever conditions the world may throw our way, we all have it within our power to rule our own judgments, so that no hardship can defeat us, unless we submit to it freely.
If Seneca’s military imagery isn’t inspiring, the language of romantic love can work just as well. What suitor will not go through hell or high water to serve his dearest? What is so remarkable is that he always appears to confront the obstacles with a smile on his face, and he is not even disheartened by the prospect of death.
There is no avoiding the fact that fortune is fickle, and no amount of fiddling about with the circumstances can ever change that. Moving to a new town, or taking up a new job, or running away to the hills still leaves the soul starved of the virtues. Only philosophy, in its broadest and deepest sense, provides the necessary sustenance; where there is an understanding of what is true, and thereby a love of what is good, there is also the strength to rise above the fray.
—Reflection written in 12/2013
No comments:
Post a Comment