Seneca was born in the year 4 B.C., a time of great opportunity, at Corduba, in Spain, son of the talented rhetorician, Annaeus Seneca. We gather that the family moved to Rome during the boyhood of Lucius, that he was educated for the bar, and that he was soon attracted by the Stoic philosophy, the stern nurse of heroes during the first century of the Empire. The last two years of Seneca's life were spent in travelling about southern Italy, composing essays on natural history and relieving his burdened soul by correspondence with his friend Lucilius. These letters are all addressed to Lucilius. The native country of this Lucilius was Campania, and his native city Pompeii or Naples. He was a Roman knight, having gained that position, as Seneca tells us, by sheer industry. Prominent in the civil service, he had filled many important positions and was, at the time when the Letters were written, procurator in Sicily. It may be safely said that the years 63-65 constitute the period of the Letters. There were 124 Letters in all. They ring as true today as they did 1,949 years ago! You can find written translations of each podcast episode at www.lettersfromastoic.net.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca - Stoic Philosopher and Minimalist
I know that you have plenty of spirit; for even before you began to equip yourself with maxims which were wholesome and potent to overcome obstacles, you were taking pride in your contest with Fortune; and this is all the more true, now that you have grappled with Fortune and tested your powers. For our […] The post Letter 13: On Groundless Fears first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
Wherever I turn, I see evidences of my advancing years. I visited lately my country-place, and protested against the money which was spent on the tumble-down building. My bailiff maintained that the flaws were not due to his own carelessness; “he was doing everything possible, but the house was old.” And this was the house […] The post Letter 12: On Old Age first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
Your friend and I have had a conversation. He is a man of ability; his very first words showed what spirit and understanding he possesses, and what progress he has already made. He gave me a foretaste, and he will not fail to answer thereto. For he spoke not from forethought, but was suddenly caught […] The post Letter 11: On the Blush of Modesty first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
Yes, I do not change my opinion: avoid the many, avoid the few, avoid even the individual. I know of no one with whom I should be willing to have you shared. And see what an opinion of you I have; for I dare to trust you with your own self. Crates, they say, the […] The post Letter 10: On Living to Oneself first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
You desire to know whether Epicurus is right when, in one of his letters, he rebukes those who hold that the wise man is self-sufficient and for that reason does not stand in need of friendships. This is the objection raised by Epicurus against Stilbo and those who believe that the Supreme Good is a […] The post Letter 9: On Philosophy and Friendship first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
“Do you bid me,” you say, “shun the throng, and withdraw from men, and be content with my own conscience? Where are the counsels of your school, which order a man to die in the midst of active work?” As to the course which I seem to you to be urging on you now and […] The post Letter 8: On the Philosopher’s Seclusion first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
Do you ask me what you should regard as especially to be avoided? I say, crowds; for as yet you cannot trust yourself to them with safety. I shall admit my own weakness, at any rate; for I never bring back home the same character that I took abroad with me. Something of that which […] The post Letter 7: On Crowds first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
I feel, my dear Lucilius, that I am being not only reformed, but transformed. I do not yet, however, assure myself, or indulge the hope, that there are no elements left in me which need to be changed. Of course there are many that should be made more compact, or made thinner, or be brought […] The post Letter 6: On Sharing Knowledge first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
By Lucius Annaeus Seneca I commend you and rejoice in the fact that you are persistent in your studies, and that, putting all else aside, you make it each day your endeavour to become a better man. I do not merely exhort you to keep at it; I actually beg you to do so. I warn […] The post Letter 5: On The Philosopher’s Mean first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
By Lucius Annaeus Seneca Keep on as you have begun, and make all possible haste, so that you may have longer enjoyment of an improved mind, one that is at peace with itself. Doubtless you will derive enjoyment during the time when you are improving your mind and setting it at peace with itself; but quite […] The post Letter 4: On The Terrors of Death first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
By Lucius Annaeus Seneca You have sent a letter to me through the hand of a “friend” of yours, as you call him. And in your very next sentence you warn me not to discuss with him all the matters that concern you, saying that even you yourself are not accustomed to do this; in other […] The post Letter 3: On True and False Friendship first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
By Lucius Annaeus Seneca Judging by what you write me, and by what I hear, I am forming a good opinion regarding your future. You do not run hither and thither and distract yourself by changing your abode; for such restlessness is the sign of a disordered spirit. The primary indication, to my thinking, of a […] The post Letter 2: On Discursiveness in Reading first appeared on Seneca Letters From a Stoic.
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