diff --git a/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-12.md b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-12.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..087e761 --- /dev/null +++ b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-12.md @@ -0,0 +1,118 @@ +--- + tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 12" + title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 12: On Old Age" + topics: [philosophy] + pub: "" + short_desc: "" +--- + +# Letter 12: On Old Age + +## Original Text + +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 which grew under my own hands! What has the +future in store for me, if stones of my own age are already crumbling? I +was angry, and I embraced the first opportunity to vent my spleen in the +bailiff's presence. "It is clear," I cried, "that these plane-trees are +neglected; they have no leaves. Their branches are so gnarled and shrivelled; +the boles are so rough and unkempt! This would not happen, if someone +loosened the earth at their feet, and watered them." The bailiff swore by my +protecting deity that "he was doing everything possible, and never relaxed +his efforts, but those trees were old." Between you and me, I had planted +those trees myself, I had seen them in their first leaf. Then I turned to +the door and asked: "Who is that broken-down dotard? You have done well to +place him at the entrance; for he is outward bound. Where did you get him? +What pleasure did it give you to take up for burial some other man's +dead?" But the slave said: "Don't you know me, sir? I am Felicio; you used +to bring me little images. My father was Philositus the steward, and I am +your pet slave." "The man is clean crazy," I remarked. "Has my pet slave +become a little boy again? But it is quite possible; his teeth are just +dropping out." + +I owe it to my country-place that my old age became apparent whithersoever +I turned. Let us cherish and love old age; for 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; the last drink delights the toper, the +glass which souses him and puts the finishing touch on his drunkenness. +Each pleasure reserves to the end the greatest delights which it contains. +Life is most delightful when it is on the downward slope, but has not yet +reached the abrupt decline. And I myself believe that the period which +stands, so to speak, on the edge of the roof, possesses pleasures of its +own. Or else the very fact of our not wanting pleasures has taken the +place of the pleasures themselves. How comforting it is to have tired out +one's appetites, and to have done with them! "But," you say, "it is a +nuisance to be looking death in the face!" Death, however, should be +looked in the face by young and old alike. We are not summoned according +to our rating on the censor's list. Moreover, no one is so old that it +would be improper for him to hope for another day of existence. And one +day, mind you, is a stage on life's journey. + +Our span of life is divided into parts; it consists of large circles +enclosing smaller. One circle embraces and bounds the rest; it reaches +from birth to the last day of existence. The next circle limits the period +of our young manhood. The third confines all of childhood in its +circumference. Again, there is, in a class by itself, the year; it +contains within itself all the divisions of time by the multiplication of +which we get the total of life. The month is bounded by a narrower ring. +The smallest circle of all is the day; but even a day has its beginning +and its ending, its sunrise and its sunset. Hence Heraclitus, whose +obscure style gave him his surname, remarked: "One day is equal to +every day." Different persons have interpreted the saying in different +ways. Some hold that days are equal in number of hours, and this is true; +for if by "day" we mean twenty-four hours' time, all days must be equal, +inasmuch as the night acquires what the day loses. But others maintain +that one day is equal to all days through resemblance, because the very +longest space of time possesses no element which cannot be found in a +single day, – namely, light and darkness, – and even to eternity day makes +these alternations more numerous, not different when it is shorter and +different again when it is longer. Hence, every day ought to be +regulated as if it closed the series, as if it rounded out and completed +our existence. + +Pacuvius, who by long occupancy made Syria his own, used to hold a +regular burial sacrifice in his own honour, with wine and the usual +funeral feasting, and then would have himself carried from the dining-room +to his chamber, while eunuchs applauded and sang in Greek to a musical +accompaniment: "He has lived his life, he has lived his life!" Thus +Pacuvius had himself carried out to burial every day. Let us, however, do +from a good motive what he used to do from a debased motive; let us go to +our sleep with joy and gladness; let us say: + +I have lived; the course which Fortune set for me +Is finished. + +And if God is pleased to add another day, we should welcome it with glad +hearts. That man is happiest, and is secure in his own possession of +himself, who can await the morrow without apprehension. When a man has +said: "I have lived!", every morning he arises he receives a bonus. + +But now I ought to close my letter. "What?" you say; "shall it come to +me without any little offering? "Be not afraid; it brings something, – +nay, more than something, a great deal. For what is more noble than +the following saying of which I make this letter the bearer: "It +is wrong to live under constraint; but no man is constrained to live +under constraint." Of course not. On all sides lie many short and +simple paths to freedom; and let us thank God that no man can be kept +in life. We may spurn the very constraints that hold us. +"Epicurus," you reply, "uttered these words; what are you doing with +another's property?" Any truth, I maintain, is my own property. And I +shall continue to heap quotations from Epicurus upon you, so that all +persons who swear by the words of another, and put a value upon the +speaker and not upon the thing spoken, may understand that the best +ideas are common property. Farewell. + +## Response + +### Source + +[Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 12 on Wikisource]( +https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_12) + +###### [Letter Index]({{ site.baseurl }}{% post_url 2018-01-15-Letters-To-Lucilius %}) + +- Update pub to publication date +- Set short_desc diff --git a/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-5.md b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-5.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f823bd --- /dev/null +++ b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,119 @@ +--- + tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 5" + title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 5: On the Philosopher's Mean" + topics: [philosophy] + pub: "2018-02-11" + short_desc: "In this letter, Seneca explores the concept of All Things in + Moderation, but with a Stoic twist!" +--- + +# Letter 5: On the Philosopher's Mean + +## Original Text + +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 you, however, not to act after the fashion of those who desire to be +conspicuous rather than to improve, by doing things which will rouse comment as +regards your dress or general way of living. Repellent attire, unkempt hair, +slovenly beard, open scorn of silver dishes, a couch on the bare earth, and any +other perverted forms of self-display, are to be avoided. The mere name of +philosophy, however quietly pursued, is an object of sufficient scorn; and what +would happen if we should begin to separate ourselves from the customs of our +fellow-men? Inwardly, we ought to be different in all respects, but our exterior +should conform to society. Do not wear too fine, nor yet too frowzy, a toga. +One needs no silver plate, encrusted and embossed in solid gold; but we should +not believe the lack of silver and gold to be proof of the simple life. Let us +try to maintain a higher standard of life than that of the multitude, but not a +contrary standard; otherwise, we shall frighten away and repel the very persons +whom we are trying to improve. We also bring it about that they are unwilling to +imitate us in anything, because they are afraid lest they might be compelled to +imitate us in everything. + +The first thing which philosophy undertakes to give is fellow-feeling with all +men; in other words, sympathy and sociability. We part company with our promise +if we are unlike other men. We must see to it that the means by which we wish to +draw admiration be not absurd and odious. Our motto, as you know, is "Live +according to Nature"; but it is quite contrary to nature to torture the body, to +hate unlaboured elegance, to be dirty on purpose, to eat food that is not only +plain, but disgusting and forbidding. Just as it is a sign of luxury to seek +out dainties, so it is madness to avoid that which is customary and can be +purchased at no great price. Philosophy calls for plain living, but not for +penance; and we may perfectly well be plain and neat at the same time. This is +the mean of which I approve; our life should observe a happy medium between the +ways of a sage and the ways of the world at large; all men should admire it, but +they should understand it also. + +"Well then, shall we act like other men? Shall there be no distinction between +ourselves and the world?" Yes, a very great one; let men find that we are unlike +the common herd, if they look closely. If they visit us at home, they should +admire us, rather than our household appointments. He is a great man who uses +earthenware dishes as if they were silver; but he is equally great who uses +silver as if it were earthenware. It is the sign of an unstable mind not to be +able to endure riches. + +But I wish to share with you to-day's profit also. I find in the writings of +our Hecato that the limiting of desires helps also to cure fears: "Cease to +hope," he says, "and you will cease to fear." "But how," you will reply, "can +things so different go side by side?" In this way, my dear Lucilius: though they +do seem at variance, yet they are really united. Just as the same chain fastens +the prisoner and the soldier who guards him, so hope and fear, dissimilar as +they are, keep step together; fear follows hope. I am not surprised that they +proceed in this way; each alike belongs to a mind that is in suspense, a mind +that is fretted by looking forward to the future. But the chief cause of both +these ills is that we do not adapt ourselves to the present, but send our +thoughts a long way ahead. And so foresight, the noblest blessing of the human +race, becomes perverted. Beasts avoid the dangers which they see, and when they +have escaped them are free from care; but we men torment ourselves over that +which is to come as well as over that which is past. Many of our blessings bring +bane to us; for memory recalls the tortures of fear, while foresight anticipates +them. The present alone can make no man wretched. Farewell. + +## Response + +Mean as in average. Not, like... being a jerk. In this letter, Seneca encourages +us to live a life which does not ostracize us from society. Instead, we should +look beyond the facade, and understand the intentions behind our and others' +actions. Living within and conforming to society is not a problem, so long as we +do not neglect our virtue: "Inwardly, we ought to be different in all respects, +but our exterior should conform to society." + +I take from this letter two important lessons: live your life for you, not for +others; and don't be afraid to be normal. Though, maybe "live your life for you +and pursue virtue" is better. Seek modesty (and moderation) in all things. Be a +philosopher in thought, word, and deed, but be an everyday person too, and +perhaps primarily. Nobody likes being lectured to, but people do enjoy talking +to each other. A big aspect of Stoicism is sharing what we learn with others; +improving ourselves to improve others. The only way to do that is by being, for +lack of a better word, normal. As Seneca puts it, "We part company with our +promise if we are unlike other men." + +Seneca's included quote at the end comes from Hecato, and re-enforces the +significance of moderation. "Cease to hope, and you will cease to fear." Seneca +expands on this to stress the importance of staying present: "...memory recalls +the tortures of fear, while foresight anticipates them." The way Seneca +approaches and expands the quote, though, is simply poetic, and something I will +certainly remember moving forward: "Just as the same chain fastens the prisoner +and the soldier who guards him, so hope and fear, dissimilar as they are, keep +step together; fear follows hope." + +A few more things worth noting: + +"Repellent attire, unkempt hair, slovenly beard, open scorn of silver dishes, a +couch on the bare earth, and any other perverted forms of self-display, are to +be avoided." This seems like a direct response (and another patented Seneca Sick +Burn) to the Cynics. + +"It is the sign of an unstable mind not to be able to endure riches." I read +this a few different ways. First, endure the riches of others, and do not let +them effect your sense of self-worth. Second, endure the riches of yourself, and +do not let it inflate your self-worth. Finally, endure all riches, and recognize +them as an indifference, preferred but never at the expense of virtue. + +### Source + +[Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 5 on Wikisource]( +https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_5) + +###### [Letter Index]({{ site.baseurl }}{% post_url 2018-01-15-Letters-To-Lucilius %}) diff --git a/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-6.md b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-6.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..00c058a --- /dev/null +++ b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,98 @@ +--- + tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 6" + title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 6: On Sharing Knowledge" + topics: [philosophy] + pub: "2018-02-11" + short_desc: "Knowledge withheld is only partial. Sharing knowledge, and + experiencing it, fosters improvement!" +--- + +# Letter 6: On Sharing Knowledge + +## Original Text + +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 into greater +prominence. And indeed this very fact is proof that my spirit is altered into +something better, – that it can see its own faults, of which it was previously +ignorant. In certain cases sick men are congratulated because they themselves +have perceived that they are sick. + +I therefore wish to impart to you this sudden change in myself; I should then +begin to place a surer trust in our friendship, – the true friendship which hope +and fear and self-interest cannot sever, the friendship in which and for the +sake of which men meet death. + +I can show you many who have lacked, not a friend, but a friendship; this, +however, cannot possibly happen when souls are drawn together by identical +inclinations into an alliance of honourable desires. And why can it not happen? +Because in such cases men know that they have all things in common, especially +their troubles. + +You cannot conceive what distinct progress I notice that each day brings to me. +And when you say: "Give me also a share in these gifts which you have found so +helpful," I reply that I am anxious to heap all these privileges upon you, and +that I am glad to learn in order that I may teach. Nothing will ever please me, +no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to +myself. And if wisdom were given 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. + +I shall therefore send to you the actual books; and in order that you may not +waste time in searching here and there for profitable topics, I shall mark +certain passages, so that you can turn at once to those which I approve and +admire. Of course, however, the living voice and the intimacy of a common life +will help you more than the written word. You must go to the scene of action, +first, because men put more faith in their eyes than in their ears, and second, +because the way is long if one follows precepts, but short and helpful, if one +follows patterns. + +Cleanthes could not have been the express image of Zeno, if he had merely heard +his lectures; he shared in his life, saw into his hidden purposes, and watched +him to see whether he lived according to his own rules. Plato, Aristotle, and +the whole throng of sages who were destined to go each his different way, +derived more benefit from the character than from the words of Socrates. It was +not the class-room of Epicurus, but living together under the same roof, that +made great men of Metrodorus, Hermarchus, and Polyaenus. Therefore I summon you, +not merely that you may derive benefit, but that you may confer benefit; for we +can assist each other greatly. + +Meanwhile, I owe you my little daily contribution; you shall be told what +pleased me to-day in the writings of Hecato; it is these words: "What progress, +you ask, 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. Farewell. + +## Response + +This letter is very casual, more of an update than anything, I feel. Seneca +draws reference to the significance of friendship once more, as was covered in +letter three. Expanding upon it, he emphasizes the importance of sharing +knowledge: "And if wisdom were given 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." Beyond just sharing, though, is the +importance of experiencing. His mentions of Cleanthes to Zeno, and Plato or +Aristotle to Socrates, help illustrate this notion. + +What strikes me of significance in this letter is the quote Seneca includes from +Hecato: "What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to +myself." It reminds me of a quote from an article I read written in the 1920s: +"I am persuaded that no one ever achieves anything worth-while in this world +unless he has so great a respect for his work that he compels all other men to +respect it." In my eyes, the first is a requirement for the second; before you +can respect yourself and your work, you must be a friend with yourself. Instead +of fighting against every negative feeling or doubt, you must find strength and +power. Only then will you live with such assurance that you will harbor respect +wherever you walk. + +### Source + +[Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 6 on Wikisource]( +https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_6) + +[Why I Quit Being So Accomidating]( +https://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/1922-why-i-quit-being-so-accommodating/) + +###### [Letter Index]({{ site.baseurl }}{% post_url 2018-01-15-Letters-To-Lucilius %})