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Seneca's Moral Letters to Lucilius
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---
tabtitle: "Moral Letters :: Index"
title: "Seneca's Moral Letters to Lucilius"
topics: [philosophy]
pub: "2018-01-15"
short_desc: "My friend Rob and I have recently been disucssing Seneca's
Moral Letters to Lucilius. As a companion to those discussions, I'm
documenting my responses to each letter."
---
<p>My friend Rob and I have recently been disucssing Seneca's
Moral Letters to Lucilius. As a companion to those discussions, I'm
documenting my responses to each letter. This page will serve as an index for
all of my responses.</p>
<h2>Seneca's Moral Letters to Lucilius</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="2018/01/15/letter-to-lucilius-1.html">
Letter 1: On Time</a></li>
<li><a href="2018/01/15/letter-to-lucilius-2.html">
Letter 2: On discursiveness in reading</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Source</h3>
<p><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius">
Collection of Seneca's Moral Letters to Lucilius on Wikisource
</a></p>

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---
tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 1"
title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 1: On Time"
topics: [philosophy]
pub: "2018-01-15"
short_desc: "Seneca's Moral Letters to Lucilius are regarded as one of the
most prominent Stoic writings available. My friend Rob and I like to
discuss them during a weekly meeting, and I'd like to record my response
and thoughts as well. Here's letter 1, On Time"
---
<h1>Letter 1: On Time</h1>
<h2>Original Text</h2>
<p> Greetings from Seneca to his friend Lucilius.</p>
<p>1. Continue to act thus, my dear Lucilius – set yourself free for your own
sake; gather and save your time, which till lately has been forced from you,
or filched away, or has merely slipped from your hands. Make yourself
believe the truth of my words, – that certain moments are torn from us, that
some are gently removed, and that others glide beyond our reach. The most
disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness. Furthermore,
if you will pay close heed to the problem, you will find that the largest
portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly share while we
are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the
purpose. 2. What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who
reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For
we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death
has already passed. Whatever years be behind us are in death's hands.</p>
<p>Therefore, Lucilius, do as you write me that you are doing: hold every hour
in your grasp. Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so
much upon to-morrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by. 3. Nothing,
Lucilius, is ours, except time. We were entrusted by nature with the
ownership of this single thing, so fleeting and slippery that anyone who
will can oust us from possession. What fools these mortals be! They allow
the cheapest and most useless things, which can easily be replaced, to be
charged in the reckoning, after they have acquired them; but they never
regard themselves as in debt when they have received some of that precious
commodity, – time! And yet time is the one loan which even a grateful
recipient cannot repay.</p>
<p>4. You may desire to know how I, who preach to you so freely, am practising.
I confess frankly: my expense account balances, as you would expect from one
who is free-handed but careful. I cannot boast that I waste nothing, but I
can at least tell you what I am wasting, and the cause and manner of the
loss; I can give you the reasons why I am a poor man. My situation, however,
is the same as that of many who are reduced to slender means through no
fault of their own: every one forgives them, but no one comes to their
rescue.</p>
<p>5. What is the state of things, then? It is this: I do not regard a man as
poor, if the little which remains is enough for him. I advise you, however,
to keep what is really yours; and you cannot begin too early. For, as our
ancestors believed, it is too late to spare when you reach the dregs of the
cask. Of that which remains at the bottom, the amount is slight, and the
quality is vile. Farewell.</p>
<h2>Response</h2>
<p>Time management. I'm pretty bad at time management. It's interesting
re-reading this letter after having read ahead a few. This one reads much
less personal than his later letters. Perhaps an indication of a developing
relationship.</p>
<p>Much of the letter emphasizes the importance of being present, and aware. One
of the most impactful parts of this letter epitomizes this: "Whatever years
be behind us are in death's hands." The acceptance of death as a necessary
and constant part of life is a Stoic theme, but this sentence reminds us of
this reality without remorse. Replace 'years' with 'time', and the letter's
theme is laid bare: time is an expense account you can only hope to balance,
and never credit. Seneca himself makes this comparison, noting that he only
balances his by being aware of his expenditures. To him, it seems being
aware of the waste is enough to balance the waste itself, which I find
interesting.</p>
<p>Seneca's account of how we spend our time strikes me as a tad cynical:
"...the largest portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly
share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that
which is not to the purpose." Essentially, we spend most of our life not
doing what we intend to do, either because we fail to act, or we "[do] ill".
If I interpret "doing ill" to mean not pursuing Stoic virtue, I can
extrapolate "the purpose" to mean living a virtuous life. I think the
statement seeks more specific examples than the entirety of life's pursuit,
though, and in those cases "doing ill" could mean doing that which does not
benefit the specific pursuit. This could be playing video games instead of
cleaning my house, for example. In this case, it seems apt to define "doing
ill" as procrastination, and "the purpose" being whatever our goal is at
that particular moment. Though an interesting third option is more of a
relativity approach: we feel that life passes us by fastest while "doing
ill" or doing nothing, and in general life seems to pass by faster when we
are not focusing on our task than when we are. The ol' "Time flies while
you're having fun" chestnut. Not to say "doing ill" is having fun, though.
Rather, "doing ill" is like partying until 4am, and wondering how it got so
late.</p>
<p> Live in the moment, be aware of how you spend your time, and always act to
spend it wisely. Just be aware: no matter how carefully you budget, your
account will always be indebted to death.</p>
<h3>Source</h3>
<p><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_1">
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 1 on Wikisource
</a></p>

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---
tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 2"
title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 2: On Discursiveness in Reading"
topics: [philosophy]
pub: "2018-01-15"
short_desc: "Seneca's second letter to Lucilius, On Discursiveness in
Reading, covers the importance of focus. There's also a quote by Epicurus,
which is apparently a feature of many of his letters to Lucilius."
---
<h1>Letter 2: On Discursiveness in Reading</h1>
<h2>Original Text</h2>
<p>1. 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 well-ordered
mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.
2. Be careful, however, lest this reading of many authors and books of every
sort may tend to make you discursive and unsteady. You must linger among a
limited number of master thinkers, and digest their works, if you would derive
ideas which shall win firm hold in your mind. Everywhere means nowhere. When a
person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by 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. 3. Food does no good and is not assimilated into the body
if it leaves the stomach as soon as it is eaten; nothing hinders a cure so much
as frequent change of medicine; no wound will heal when one salve is tried
after another; a plant which is often moved can never grow strong. There is
nothing so efficacious that it can be helpful while it is being shifted about.
And in reading of many books is distraction.</p>
<p>Accordingly, since you cannot read all the books which you may possess, it is
enough to possess only as many books as you can read. 4. "But," you reply, "I
wish to dip first into one book and then into another." I tell you that it is
the sign of an overnice appetite to toy with many dishes; for when they are
manifold and varied, they cloy but do not nourish. So you should always read
standard authors; and when you crave a change, fall back upon those whom you
read before. Each day acquire something that will fortify you against poverty,
against death, indeed against other misfortunes as well; and after you have run
over many thoughts, select one to be thoroughly digested that day. 5. This is
my own custom; from the many things which I have read, I claim some one part
for myself.</p>
<p>The thought for today is one which I discovered in Epicurus; for I am wont
to cross over even into the enemy's camp, – not as a deserter, but as a scout.
6. He says: "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. What does it matter how much a man has
laid up in his safe, or in his warehouse, how large are his flocks and how fat
his dividends, if he covets his neighbour's property, and reckons, not his past
gains, but his hopes of gains to come? Do you ask what is the proper limit to
wealth? It is, first, to have what is necessary, and, second, to have what is
enough. Farewell.</p>
<h2>Response</h2>
<p>I'm not sure who named the letters, but I think they should always read "On
Whatever I Intend to Write About, oh and this generally unrelated quote
probably from Epicurus." Which isn't to complain, I just find it amusing.
And, to be fair, this letter and quote combination do fit together.</p>
<p>The gist of this letter is the importance of focus. Seneca posits having too
broad a focus with regard to authors or topics will make Lucilius
"discursive and unsteady." A jack-of-all-trades is a master of none. His
comparisons with travel, food, medicine, and agriculture are all apt, though
a tad misleading, as each topic necessitates a differing degree of focus,
not to mention each may pursue different ends; the pursuit of reading or
travel may be ephemeral, whereas the pursuit of medicine or treatment may be
more lasting. Considering the theme of the letter, though, I don't want to
argue these particulars, since I like the metaphors.</p>
<p>The secondary theme of the letter deals with possessions. Both Seneca, and
the surprisingly on-topic quote from Epicurus encourage only owning enough
to cover what is needed, not necessarily what is desired. "It is, first, to
have what is necessary, and, second, to have what is enough." As an aspiring
minimalist, I couldn't agree more.</p>
<h3>Source</h3>
<p><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_2">
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 2 on Wikisource
</a></p>

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