Moral Letters to Lucilius

Author: Seneca

Chapter 1. On Saving Time

• Set yourself free for your own sake; gather and save your time, which till lately has been forced from you, or filched away
• the most disgraceful kind of loss is that due to carelessness
• Hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of today’s task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow’s.
• Nothing is our except time. We were entrusted by nature with the ownership of this single thing.

Chapter 2. On Discursiveness in Reading

• The primary indication of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.
• You must linger among a limited number of master thinkers, and digest their work.
• Everywhere means nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends in having many acquaintances, but no friends. And the same thing must hold true of men who seek intimate acquaintance with no single author, but visit them all in a hasty and hurried manner.
• In reading of many books is a distraction.
• So you should always read standard authors; and when you crave a change fall back upon those whom you read before.
• Quoting Epicurus: “contented poverty is an honourable estate”. Indeed, if it be contented, it is not poverty at all. It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

Chapter 3. On True and False Friendship

• I would have you discuss everything with a friend; but first of all discuss the man himself. When friendship is settled, you must trust; before friendship is formed, you must pass judgement.
• Those persons indeed put last first and confound their duties, who, violating the rules of Theophrastus, judge a man after they have made him their friend, instead of making him their friend after they have judged him. Ponder for a long time whether you shall admit a given person to your friendship; but when you have decided to admit him, welcome him with all your heart and soul.
• Why need I keep back any words in the presence of a friend? Why should I not regard myself as alone when in his company?
• It is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one. Yet the former fault is the more ingenuous, the latter the more safe.

Chapter 4. On The Terrors of Death

• You will thus understand that some things are less to be dreaded, precisely because they inspire us with great fear.
• Make life as a whole agreeable to yourself by banishing all worry about it.

Chapter 5. On The Philosopher’s Mean

• The mere name of philosophy, however quietly pursued, is an object of sufficient scorn.
• Inwardly, we ought to be different in all respects, but our exterior should conform to society.
• Let us try to maintain a higher standard of life than that of the multitude, but not a contrary standard.
• Our motto is "Live according to Nature".
• It is a sign of an unstable mind not to be able to endure riches.
• “Cease to hope”, Hecato says, “and you will cease to fear”.

Chapter 6. On Sharing Knowledge

• If wisdom were given to me under the express condition that it must be kept hidden and not uttered, I should refuse it. No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.
• You must go to the scene of action, first, because men put more faith in their eyes than in their ears.
• Quoting Hecato: “What progress have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.” That was indeed a great benefit; such a person can never be alone. You may be sure that such a man is a friend to all mankind.

Chapter 7. On Crowds

• What should you regard as especially to be avoided? I say crowds; for as yet you cannot trust yourself to them with safety.
• I come home more greedy, more ambitious, more voluptuous, and even more cruel and inhuman, because I have been among humans.
• Withdraw into yourself, as far as you can. Associate with those who will make a better man of you. Welcome those who you yourself can improve.
• You may say: “for what purpose did I learn all these things?” But you need not fear that you have wasted your efforts; it was for yourself that you learned them.
• Democritus says: “One man means as much to me as a multitude, and a multitude only as much as one man”.
• Many men praise you; but have you any reason for being pleased with yourself, if you are a person whom the many can understand? Your good qualities should face inwards.

Chapter 8. On the Philosopher’s Seclusion

• I do not allow time for sleep but yield to it when I must, and when my eyes are wearied with waking and ready to fall shut, I keep them at their task.
• Indulge the body only so far as is needful for good health. The body should be treated more rigorously, that it may not be disobedient to the mind. Eat merely to relieve your hunger; drink merely to relieve your thirst.
• Reflect that nothing except the soul is worthy of wonder; for the soul, if it be great, naught is great.
• Quoting [[Epicurus]]: "If you would enjoy real freedom, you must be the slave of Philosophy." The man who submits and surrenders himself to her is not kept waiting; he is emancipated on the spot. For the very service of philosophy is freedom.

Chapter 9. On Philosophy and Friendship

• Our ideal wise man feels his troubles, but overcomes them; their wise man does not even feel them. But we and they alike hold this idea - that the wise man is self-sufficient. Nevertheless, he desires friends, neighbours and associates, no matter how much he is sufficient unto himself.
• The wise man is self-sufficient, that he can do without friends, not that he desires to do without them.
• Hecato: “If you would be loved, love”.
• There is great pleasure, not only in maintaining old and established friendships, but also in beginning and acquiring new ones.
• It is more pleasant to make than to keep a friend, as it is more pleasant to the artist to paint than to have finished the painting.
• The wise man, self-sufficient though he may be, nevertheless desires friends if only for the purpose of practicing friendship, in order that his noble qualities may not lie dormant.
• If friendship is to be sought for its own sake, he may seek it who is self-sufficient.
• The Supreme Good calls for no practical aids from outside; it is developed at home, and arises entirely within itself.
• As we hate solitude and crave society, as nature draws men to each other, so in this matter also there is an attraction which makes us desirous of friendship.
• Epicurus: “whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be the master of the whole world”.
• Unblest is he who thinks himself unblest.

Chapter 10. On Living to Oneself

• See it to it that nothing keeps you down. Pray for a sound mind and for good health, first of soul and then of body. And of course you should offer those prayers frequently. Call boldly upon God.
• Live among men as if God beheld you; speak with God as if men were listening.

Chapter 11. On the Blush of Modesty

• Epicurus: Cherish some man of high character, and keep him ever before your eyes, living as if he were watching you, and ordering all your actions as if he beheld them.

Chapter 12. On Old Age

• Let us cherish and love old age; it is full of pleasure if one knows how to use it. Fruits are most welcome when almost over; youth is most charming at its close.
• When a man has said “I have lived!”, every morning he arises he receives a bonus.
• On all sides lie many short and simple paths to freedom.

Chapter 13. On Groundless Fears

• For manliness gains much strength by being challenged
• What I advise you to do is not to be unhappy before the crisis comes; it may be that the dangers before which you paled as if they were threatening you will never come upon you.
• We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating sorrow.
• When men surround you and try to talk you into believing that you are unhappy, consider not what you hear but what you yourself feel, and take counsel with your feelings and question yourself independently because you know your own affairs better than anybody else does.
• Weigh carefully your hopes as well as your fears, and whenever the elements are in doubt, decide in your own favour; believe what you prefer.
• Let another say “perhaps the worst will not happen”. You yourself must say: “Well, what if it does happen? Let us see who wins! Perhaps it happens for my best interests; it may be that such a death will shed credit upon my life.”
• Epicurus: “The fool is always getting ready to live”. See how revolting is the fickleness of men who lay down every day new foundations of life, and begin to build up fresh hopes even at the brink of the grave.

Chapter 14. On the Reasons for Withdrawing from the World

• He will have many masters who makes his body his master, who is over-fearful in its behalf, who judges everything according to the body. We should conduct ourselves not as if we ought to live for the body, but as if we could not live without it.
• Virtue is held too cheap by the man who counts his body too dear. We should cherish the body with the greatest care; but we should also be prepared, when reason, self-respect and duty demand the sacrifice, to deliver it even to the flames.
• We should see how we may protect ourselves from the mob. Let us see to it that we abstain from giving offence.
• We must avoid three things with special care: hatred, jealousy and scorn.
• Let us withdraw ourselves in every way; for it is as harmful to be scorned as to be admired.
• One must take refuge in philosophy; this pursuit is a sort of protecting emblem. For speechmaking or any other pursuit that claims people’s attention wins enemies for a man; but philosophy is peaceful and minds her own business.
• Philosophy should be practiced with calmness and moderation.
• The wise man will not upset the custom of the people, nor will he invite the attention of the populace by any novel ways of living.
• The wise man regards the reasons for all his actions, but not the results. The beginning is in our own power; fortune decides the issue, but I do not allow her to pass sentence upon myself.
• Epicurus: “He who needs riches least enjoys riches most.”

Chapter 15. On Brawn and Brains

• Without philosophy the mind is sickly, and the body too, though it may be powerful. This is the sort of health you should primarily cultivate. the other kind of health comes second, and will involve little effort, if you wish to be well physically. It is indeed foolish and very unsuitable for a cultivated man to work hard over developing the muscles and broadening the shoulders and strengthening the lungs.
• By overloading the body with food you strangle the soul and render it less active. Accordingly, limit the flesh as much as possible, and allow free play to the spirit. Many inconveniences beset those who devote themselves to such pursuits.
• There are short and simple exercises which tire the body rapidly, and so save our time, and time is something of which we ought to keep strict account. These exercises are running, brandishing weights, and jumping.
• Whatever you do, come back soon from body to mind. The mind must be exercised both day and night, for it is nourished by moderate labour. and this form of exercise need not be hampered by cold or hot weather, or even by old age. Cultivate the good which improves with the years.
• One may read, dictate, converse, or listen to another. nor does walking prevent any of these things.
• “the fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears. Its course lies wholly towards the future.”
• Nor do we reflect how pleasant it is to demand nothing, how noble it is to be contented and not to be dependent upon Fortune.
• If you would thank the gods, and be grateful for your past life, you should contemplate how many men you have outstripped. But what have you to do with the others? You have outstripped yourself.

Chapter 16. On Philosophy, the Guide of Life

• No man can live a happy life, or even a supportable life, without the study of wisdom; you know also that a happy life is reached when our wisdom is brought to completion, but that life is at least endurable even when our wisdom is only begun.
• It is more important for you to keep the resolutions you have already made than to go on and make noble ones. You must persevere, must develop new strength by continuous study, until that which is only a good inclination becomes a good settled purpose.
• You should not allow the impulse of your spirit to weaken and grow cold. Hold fast to it and establish it firmly, in order that what is now impulse may become a habit of the mind.
• Epicurus: “If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to opinion, you will never be rich.”
• If you find, after having traveled far, that there is a more distant goal always in view, you may be sure that this condition is contrary to nature.

Chapter 17. On Philosophy and Riches

• Strive towards a sound mind at top speed and with your whole strength.
• When hastening after wisdom, we must endure even hunger.
• One should not seek to lay up riches first; one may attain to philosophy, however, even without money for the journey. Be a philosopher now, whether you have anything or not. [my thought: this is different from Aristotle, who acknowledges that one should first have food and shelter become taking care of other needs such as philosophy]

Chapter 18. On Festivals and Fasting

• It shows more courage to remain dry and sober when the mob is drunk and vomiting; but it shows greater self-control to refuse to withdraw oneself and to do what the crowd does, but in a different way, - thus neither making oneself conspicuous nor becoming one of the crowd. For one may keep holiday without extravagance.
• Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress. It is precisely in times of immunity from care that the soul should toughen itself beforehand for occasions of greater stress, and it is while Fortune is kind that it should fortify itself against her violence.
• Even Epicurus, the teacher of pleasure, used to observe stated intervals during which he satisfied his hunger in niggardly fashion.
• It is the highest kind of pleasure to be able to derive pleasure from simple food, and to have reduced one’s needs to that modicum which no unfairness of Fortune can snatch away.
• What a noble soul must one have, to descend of one’s own free will to a diet which even those who have been sentenced to death have not to fear.

Chapter 19. On Worldliness and Retirement

• If you retreat to privacy, everything will be on a smaller scale, but you will be satisfied abundantly; in your present condition, however, there is no satisfaction in the plenty which is heaped upon you on all sides. Would you rather be poor and sated, or rich and hungry?
• All that is added to your successes will be added to your fears.
• Epicurus: “You must reflect carefully beforehand with whom you are to eat and drink, rather than what you are to eat and drink. For a dinner of meats without the company of a friend is like the life of a lion or a wolf.”
• The most serious misfortune for a busy man who is overwhelmed by his possessions is that he believes men to be his friends when he himself is not a friend to them, and that he deems his favours to be effective in winning friends, although in the case of certain men, the more they owe the more they hate.
• Kindnesses establish friendships if one has had the privilege of choosing those who are to receive them, and if they are placed judiciously, instead of being scattered broadcast.
• Consider that it is more important who receives a thing, than what it is he receives.

Chapter 20. On Practising what you Preach

• Philosophy teaches us to act, not to speak. It exacts of every man that he should live according to his own standards, that his life should not be out of harmony with his words, and that his inner life should be of one hue and not out of harmony with all his activities. This is the highest duty and the highest proof of wisdom - that deed and word should be in accord, that a man should be equal to himself under all conditions and always the same.
• I do not say that the philosopher can always keep the same pace. But he can always travel the same path.
• You should lay hold, once for all, upon a single norm to live by, and you should regulate your whole life according to this norm.
• What is wisdom? Always desiring the same things, and always refusing the same things.

Chapter 21. On the Renown which my Writings will Bring you

• You are better at approving the right course than at following it out. You see where the true happiness lies, but you have not the courage to attain it.
• To go from your present life into the other is a promotion.
• It is your own studies that will make you shine and will render you eminent.
• The belly will not listen to advice; it makes demands, it importunes. And yet it is not a troublesome creditor; you can send it away at a small cost, provided only that you give it what you owe, not merely all you are able to give.

Chapter 22. On the Futility of Half-Way Measures

• You must be not only present in the body, but watchful in mind, if you would avail yourself of the fleeting opportunity. Accordingly, look about you for the opportunity; if you see it, grasp it, and with all your energy and with all your strength devote yourself to this task - to rid yourself of those business duties.
• There are a few men whom slavery holds fast, but there are many who hold fast to slavery.
• If you keep turning around and looking about, in order to see how much you can carry away with you, and how much money you may keep to equip yourself for the life of leisure, you will never find a way out.
• Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, and although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man’s power to live long.

Chapter 23. On the True Joy which Comes from Philosophy

• We have reached the heights if we know what it is that we find joy in and if we have not placed our happiness in the control of externals.
• Make this your business: learn how to feel joy.
• Pleasure, unless it has been kept within bounds, tends to rush headlong into the abyss of sorrow.
• The real good comes from a good conscience, from honourable purposes, from right actions, from contempt of the gifts of chance, from an even and calm way of living which treads but one path.
• Epicurus: “they live ill who are always beginning to live”. Because the life of such persons is always incomplete.

Chapter 24. On Despising Death

Chapter 25. On Reformation

• Epicurus: “The time when you should most of all withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd.”
• You ought to make yourself of a different stamp from the multitude. While it is not yet safe to withdraw into solitude, seek out certain individuals; for everyone is better off in the company of somebody or the other, no matter who, than in his own company alone.
  Chapter 26. On Old Age and Death
• When we can never prove whether we know a thing, we must always be learning it.
• He who has learned to die has unlearned slavery. he is above any external power, or at any rate, he is beyond it.

Chapter 27. On the Good which Abides

• Virtue alone affords everlasting and peace-giving joy; even if some obstacle arise, it is but like an intervening cloud, which floats beneath the sun but never prevails against it.

Chapter 28. On Travel as a Cure for Discontent

• You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate
• What pleasure is there in seeing new lands? Or in surveying cities and spots of interest? All your bustle is useless. Do you ask why such flight does not help you? It is because you flee along with yourself. You must lay aside the burdens of the minds; until you do this, no place will satisfy you.
• The person you are matters more than the place to which you go; for that reason we should not make the mind a bondsman to any one place.
• to live well is found everywhere.
• as far as possible, prove yourself guilty, hunt up charges against yourself; play the part; first of accuser, then of judge, last of intercessor. at times be harsh with yourself.

Chapter 29. On the Critical Condition of Marcellinus

• Wisdom is an art; it should have a definite aim, choosing only those who will make progress, but withdrawing from those whom it has come to regard as hopeless.

Chapter 31. On Siren Songs

• Be deaf to those who love you most of all; they pray for bad things with good intentions.
• There is only one good, the cause and the support of a happy life - trust in oneself.
• Make yourself happy through your own efforts; you can do this if once you comprehend that whatever is blended with virtue is good, and that whatever is joined to vice is bad.
• What then is good? The knowledge of things. What is evil? The lack of knowledge of things.
• In order that virtue may be perfect, there should be an even temperament and a scheme of life that is consistent with itself throughout.

Chapter 32. On Progress

• this is sound practice: to refrain from associating with men of different stamp and different aims.
• since life is so short; and we make it still shorter by our unsteadiness, by making ever fresh beginnings at life, now one and immediately another. We break up life into little bits, and fritter it away. Hasten ahead, then, and reflect how greatly you would quicken your speed if an enemy were at your back.
• Remember what a noble thing it is to round out your life before death comes, and then await in peace the remaining portion of your time, claiming nothing for yourself, since you are in possession of the happy life; for such a life is not made happier for being longer. O when shall you see the time when you shall know that time means nothing to you, when you shall be peaceful and calm, careless of the morrow, because you are enjoying your life to the full?
• I pray that you may get such control over yourself that your mind, now shaken by wandering thoughts, may at last come to rest and be steadfast, that it may be content with itself and, having attained an understanding of what things are truly good, - that it may have no need of added years.

Chapter 33. On the Futility of Learning Maxims

• we Stoics are not subjects of a despot: each of us lays claim to his own freedom.
• “Only a poor man counts his flock”
• Let there be a difference between yourself and your book! How long shall you be a learner? From now on be a teacher as well!

Chapter 35. On the Friendship of Kindred Minds

• Friendship is always helpful, but love sometimes even does harm. Try to protect yourself, if for no other reason, in order that you may learn how to love.
• Consider whether you desire the same things today that you desired yesterday. A shifting of the will indicates that the mind is at sea, heading in various directions, according to the course of the wind. But that which is settled and solid does not wander from its place. This is the blessed lot of the completely wise man.

Chapter 36. On the Value of Retirement

• Absorb thoroughly the studies which make for culture, - not those with which it is sufficient for a man to sprinkle himself, but those in which the mind should be steeped.

Chapter 37. On Allegiance to Virtue

• Betake yourself to philosophy if you would be safe, untroubled, happy, in fine, if you wish to be - and that is the most important - free.
• Proceed with steady step, put yourself under the control of reason; if reason becomes your ruler, you will become ruler of many.
• It is disgraceful, instead of proceeding ahead, to be carried along, and then suddenly, amid the whirlpool of events, to ask in a dazed way: How did I get into this condition?

Chapter 41. On the God Within Us

• God is near you, he is with you, he is within you. A holy spirit indwells within us, one who marks our good and bad deeds, and is our guardian.
• No man ought to glory except in that which is his own.

Chapter 42. On Values

• We should belong to ourselves, if only these things did not belong to us.
• He that owns himself has lost nothing. But how few men are blessed with ownership of self!

Chapter 43. On the Relativity of Fame

Chapter 44. On Philosophy and Pedigrees

• Plato says: “every king springs from a race of slaves, and every slave has had kings among his ancestors”
• This is what happens when you hurry through a maze; the faster you go, the worse you are entangled.

Chapter 47. On Quibbling as Unworthy of the Philosopher

• And no one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility; you must live for your neighbour, if you would live for yourself.

Chapter 50. On our Blindness and its Cure

• when once committed to us, the good is an everlasting possession; virtue is not unlearned.

Chapter 51. On Baiae and Morals

• there are places which the wise man or he who is on the way toward wisdom will avoid as foreign to good morals. If he is contemplating withdrawal from the world, he will not select Canopus nor Baiae either; for both places have begun to be resorts of vice.
• We ought to select abodes which are wholesome not only for the body but also for the character. Just as I do not care to live in a place of torture, neither do I care to live in a cafe. To witness persons wandering drunk along the beach, the riotous ravelling of sailing parties.
• We should toughen our minds, and remove them far from the allurements of pleasure
• The spirit is weakened by surroundings that are too pleasant, and without a doubt one’s place of residence can contribute towards impairing its vigour.
• Being trained in a rugged country strengthens the character.
• Above all, drive pleasures from your sight. Hate them beyond all other things, for they are like the bandits whom the Egyptians call Lovers, who embrace us only to garrotte us.

Chapter 52. On Choosing our Teachers

• You may go to the Ancients, for they have the time to help you.
• Choose as a guide one whom you will admire more when you see him act than when you hear him speak.
• Why do you take pleasure in being praised by men whom you yourself wouldn’t praise?
• If you mark them carefully, all acts are always significant, and you can gauge character by even the most trifling signs.
• You can tell the character of every man when you see how he gives and receives praise.

Chapter 53. On the Faults of the Spirit

• Devote yourself wholly to philosophy. You are worthy of her; she is worthy of you; greet one another with a loving embrace. Say farewell to all other interests with courage and frankness. Do not study philosophy merely during your spare time.
• Philosophy is not a thing to be followed at odd times, but a subject for daily practice.

Chapter 55. On Vatia’s Villa

• Philosophy is a thing of holiness, something to be worshipped, so much so that the very counterfeit pleases.
• The place where one lives can contribute little towards tranquility; it is the mind which must make everything agreeable to itself.

Chapter 56. On Quiet and Study

• The much occupied man has no time for wantonness, and it is an obvious commonplace that the evils of leisure can be shaken off by hard work.
• With greed, ambition and the other evils of the mind - you may be sure that they do most harm when they are hidden behind a pretence of soundness.
• You may be sure that you are at peace with yourself when no noise readies you, when no word shakes you out of yourself, whether it be flattery or of threat.

Chapter 57. On the Trials of Travel

Chapter 58. On Being

• I have Cicero as authority for the use of this word (esentia) and I regard him as a powerful authority.
• That is my habit: I try to extract and render useful some element from every field of thought, no matter how removed it may be from philosophy.
• There is a pleasure in being in one’s own company as long as possible, when a man has made himself worth enjoying.
• He who dies because he is in pain is a weakling, a coward; but he who lives merely to brave out this pain is a fool.

Chapter 59. On Pleasure and Joy

• “joy” is an elation of spirit, of a spirit which trusts in the goodness and truth of its own possessions.
• The wise man is joyful, happy and calm, unshaken, he lives on a plane with the gods.
• Joy is the goal which you desire to reach, but you are wandering from the path if you expect to reach your goal while you are in the midst of riches and official titles, - if you seek joy in the midst of cares, these objects for which you strive so eagerly, as if they would give you happiness and pleasure, are merely causes of grief.
• Reflect that the effect of wisdom is a joy that is unbroken and continuous. This joy springs only from the knowledge that you possess the virtues. None but the brave, the just, the self-restrained can rejoice.

Chapter 62. On Good Company

• I am master of myself. For I do not surrender myself to my affairs, but loan myself to them, and I do not hunt out excuses for wasting my time. And wherever i am situated, I carry on my own meditations and ponder in my mind some wholesome thought.

Chapter 63. On Grief for Lost Friends

• Let not the eyes be dry when we have lost a friend, nor let them overflow. We may weep, but we must not wail.
• No man goes into mourning for his own sake. There is an element of self-seeking even in our sorrow.
• It cannot but be that the names of those whom we have loved and lost come back to us with a sort of sting; but there is a pleasure even in this sting.
• Fortune has taken away, but Fortune has given. Let us greedily enjoy our friends, because we do not know how long this privilege will be ours.
• I should prefer you to abandon grief, rather than have grief abandon you.
• Nothing becomes offensive so quickly as grief; when fresh, it finds someone to console it and attracts one or another to itself; but after becoming chronic it is ridiculed and rightly. For it is either assumed or foolish.

Chapter 64. On the Philosopher’s Task

• I assume the spirit of a man who seeks where he may make trial of himself, where he may show his worth.
• I want something to overcome, something on which I may test my endurance.
  [skipped some highlights]

Chapter 66. On Various Aspects of Virtue

• the soul is not disfigured by the ugliness of the body, but rather the opposite, that the body is beautified by the comeliness of the soul.
• Vexation and pain are of no consequence, for they are overcome by virtue
• No man loves his native land because it is great; he loves it because it is his own.