2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
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<title>The Internet Vagabond :: Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 6</title>
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<span class="first">T</span>he
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<span class="first">I</span>nternet
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<span class="first">V</span>agabond
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<h1 id="letter-6-on-sharing-knowledge">Letter 6: On Sharing Knowledge</h1>
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<h2 id="original-text">Original Text</h2>
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<p>I feel, my dear Lucilius, that I am being not only reformed, but transformed. I
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do not yet, however, assure myself, or indulge the hope, that there are no
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elements left in me which need to be changed. Of course there are many that
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should be made more compact, or made thinner, or be brought into greater
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prominence. And indeed this very fact is proof that my spirit is altered into
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something better, – that it can see its own faults, of which it was previously
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ignorant. In certain cases sick men are congratulated because they themselves
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have perceived that they are sick.</p>
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<p>I therefore wish to impart to you this sudden change in myself; I should then
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begin to place a surer trust in our friendship, – the true friendship which hope
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and fear and self-interest cannot sever, the friendship in which and for the
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sake of which men meet death.</p>
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<p>I can show you many who have lacked, not a friend, but a friendship; this,
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however, cannot possibly happen when souls are drawn together by identical
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inclinations into an alliance of honourable desires. And why can it not happen?
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Because in such cases men know that they have all things in common, especially
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their troubles.</p>
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<p>You cannot conceive what distinct progress I notice that each day brings to me.
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And when you say: “Give me also a share in these gifts which you have found so
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helpful,” I reply that I am anxious to heap all these privileges upon you, and
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that I am glad to learn in order that I may teach. Nothing will ever please me,
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no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to
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myself. And if wisdom were given me under the express condition that it must be
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kept hidden and not uttered, I should refuse it. No good thing is pleasant to
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possess, without friends to share it.</p>
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<p>I shall therefore send to you the actual books; and in order that you may not
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waste time in searching here and there for profitable topics, I shall mark
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certain passages, so that you can turn at once to those which I approve and
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admire. Of course, however, the living voice and the intimacy of a common life
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will help you more than the written word. You must go to the scene of action,
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first, because men put more faith in their eyes than in their ears, and second,
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because the way is long if one follows precepts, but short and helpful, if one
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follows patterns.</p>
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<p>Cleanthes could not have been the express image of Zeno, if he had merely heard
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his lectures; he shared in his life, saw into his hidden purposes, and watched
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him to see whether he lived according to his own rules. Plato, Aristotle, and
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the whole throng of sages who were destined to go each his different way,
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derived more benefit from the character than from the words of Socrates. It was
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not the class-room of Epicurus, but living together under the same roof, that
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made great men of Metrodorus, Hermarchus, and Polyaenus. Therefore I summon you,
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not merely that you may derive benefit, but that you may confer benefit; for we
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can assist each other greatly.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, I owe you my little daily contribution; you shall be told what
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pleased me to-day in the writings of Hecato; it is these words: “What progress,
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you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.” That was indeed a
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great benefit; such a person can never be alone. You may be sure that such a man
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is a friend to all mankind. Farewell.</p>
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<h2 id="response">Response</h2>
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<p>This letter is very casual, more of an update than anything, I feel. Seneca
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draws reference to the significance of friendship once more, as was covered in
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letter three. Expanding upon it, he emphasizes the importance of sharing
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knowledge: “And if wisdom were given me under the express condition that it must
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be kept hidden and not uttered, I should refuse it. No good thing is pleasant to
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possess, without friends to share it.” Beyond just sharing, though, is the
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importance of experiencing. His mentions of Cleanthes to Zeno, and Plato or
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Aristotle to Socrates, help illustrate this notion.</p>
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<p>What strikes me of significance in this letter is the quote Seneca includes from
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Hecato: “What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to
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myself.” It reminds me of a quote from an article I read written in the 1920s:
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“I am persuaded that no one ever achieves anything worth-while in this world
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unless he has so great a respect for his work that he compels all other men to
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respect it.” In my eyes, the first is a requirement for the second; before you
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can respect yourself and your work, you must be a friend with yourself. Instead
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of fighting against every negative feeling or doubt, you must find strength and
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power. Only then will you live with such assurance that you will harbor respect
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wherever you walk.</p>
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<h1 id="sources">Sources</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_6">Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 6 on Wikisource</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/1922-why-i-quit-being-so-accommodating/">Why I Quit Being So Accomidating</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h6 id="letter-index"><a href="/2018/01/15/Letters-To-Lucilius.html">Letter Index</a></h6>
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<div class="author_info">
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Bill Niblock
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aria-label="Code dedicated to the public domain under Unlicense">
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</a>
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2018-02-11
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<div>The Site</div>
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2024-06-20 19:38:41 +00:00
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This site is a small slice of internet real-estate that I use for
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occasional writing. Nothing I say is visionary or profound. I
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focus on technology, gaming, and philosophy. All opinions my
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<div>The Vagabond</div>
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</div>
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<p>
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My name is <span class="p-name">Bill Niblock</span>. <span
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class="p-note">I'm a computer scientist by education, a technologist
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by trade, a gamer by hobby, and a philosopher by accident. I
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live in <span class="p-locality">Buffalo</span>, <span class="p-region">
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New York</span>, <span class="p-country-name">USA</span>.<br />
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<br />
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My PGP Key is <span class="u-key" id="key">CCE7 3682 331B 5614 9FAB
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7383 7359 80B2 6381 C91E</span>.
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</p>
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</section>
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<span class="p-category">Gaming</span>
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<span class="p-category">Philosophy</span>
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<span class="p-category">Open Source Software</span>
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<span class="p-category">Coffee</span>
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<span class="u-email">bill@theinternetvagabond.com</span>
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