diff --git a/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-11.md b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-11.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ffade4a --- /dev/null +++ b/_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-11.md @@ -0,0 +1,108 @@ +--- + tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 3" + title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 3: On True and False + Friendship" + topics: [philosophy] + pub: "2018-01-20" + short_desc: "Letter 3 deals with friends, and I don't mean the number shown + on Facebook. True Friendship, to Seneca, is a place of honor!" +--- + +# Letter 11: On the Blush of Modesty + +## Original Text + +1. 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 off his +guard. When he tried to collect himself, he could scarcely banish that hue of +modesty, which is a good sign in a young man; the blush that spread over his +face seemed so to rise from the depths. And I feel sure that his habit of +blushing will stay with him after he has strengthened his character, stripped +off all his faults, and become wise. For by no wisdom can natural weaknesses of +the body be removed. That which is implanted and inborn can be toned down by +training, but not overcome. 2. The steadiest speaker, when before the public, +often breaks into a perspiration, as if he had wearied or over-heated himself; +some tremble in the knees when they rise to speak; I know of some whose teeth +chatter, whose tongues falter, whose lips quiver. Training and experience can +never shake off this habit; nature exerts her own power and through such a +weakness makes her presence known even to the strongest. 3. I know that the +blush, too, is a habit of this sort, spreading suddenly over the faces of the +most dignified men. It is, indeed more prevalent in youth, because of the warmer +blood and the sensitive countenance; nevertheless, both seasoned men and aged +men are affected by it. Some are most dangerous when they redden, as if they +were letting all their sense of shame escape. 4. Sulla, when the blood mantled +his cheeks, was in his fiercest mood. Pompey had the most sensitive cast of +countenance; he always blushed in the presence of a gathering, and especially at +a public assembly. Fabianus also, I remember, reddened when he appeared as a +witness before the senate; and his embarrassment became him to a remarkable +degree. 5. Such a habit is not due to mental weakness, but to the novelty of a +situation; an inexperienced person is not necessarily confused, but is usually +affected, because he slips into this habit by natural tendency of the body. Just +as certain men are full-blooded, so others are of a quick and mobile blood, that +rushes to the face at once. + +6. As I remarked, Wisdom can never remove this habit; for if she could rub out +all our faults, she would be mistress of the universe. Whatever is assigned to +us by the terms of our birth and the blend in our constitutions, will stick with +us, no matter how hard or how long the soul may have tried to master itself. And +we cannot forbid these feelings any more than we can summon them. 7. Actors in +the theatre, who imitate the emotions, who portray fear and nervousness, who +depict sorrow, imitate bashfulness by hanging their heads, lowering their +voices, and keeping their eyes fixed and rooted upon the ground. They cannot, +however, muster a blush; for the blush cannot be prevented or acquired. Wisdom +will not assure us of a remedy, or give us help against it; it comes or goes +unbidden, and is a law unto itself. + +8. But my letter calls for its closing sentence. Hear and take to heart this +useful and wholesome motto:[1] "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." 9. Such, my dear Lucilius, is the counsel of +Epicurus;[2] he has quite properly given us a guardian and an attendant. We can +get rid of most sins, if we have a witness who stands near us when we are likely +to go wrong. The soul should have someone whom it can respect, – one by whose +authority it may make even its inner shrine more hallowed.[3] Happy is the man +who can make others better, not merely when he is in their company, but even +when he is in their thoughts! And happy also is he who can so revere a man as to +calm and regulate himself by calling him to mind! One who can so revere another, +will soon be himself worthy of reverence. 10. Choose therefore a Cato; or, if +Cato seems too severe a model, choose some Laelius, a gentler spirit. Choose a +master whose life, conversation, and soul-expressing face have satisfied you; +picture him always to yourself as your protector or your pattern. For we must +indeed have someone according to whom we may regulate our characters; you can +never straighten that which is crooked unless you use a ruler. Farewell. + +## Response + +This letter stikes me as another casual writing of Seneca's. Some of his letters +are so serious, but some are much more conversational. In this letter, Seneca +remninds us that the faults which nature gave us are beyond the power of wisdom +to fix. This, he assures us, is not something we should feel ashamed of or take +as a weakness, since it lies outside our control. His examples generally focus +on blushing, hence the title and theme, but it's easy for us to extend it to +many facets of our physical self; height comes to mind most immediately. + +As with many sources of Stoicism, when I read the reassurances of authors long +since gone, I can't help but feel a sense of comfort. The problems of today, the +personal struggles we all endure, the anxieties we fight to overcome; they're +not new. Others before us have encountered them, and others after us will. I +think the Stoics would be quick to remind us, it is our place to endure and then +help others endure. At least, that's what I am quick to remind myself of. + +The quote, another from Epicurus (Seneca's secret man-crush, no doubt), speaks +of finding a good role-model. Reflecting on his quote made me realize I don't +have many role-models in life, at least not many living. Perhaps that matters +little, but I think having a living example you can work from makes matters +easier. Seneca rightly shows how it goes beyond simply living by your +role-model's standards, but also using them as an ever-present companion, in +order to help with decisions and actions. Very reminiscent of "What would Jesus +do?" Personally, I like this idea, and I must look for a role-model I can +follow. A few names jump out: Tim Ferris, and Elon Musk. Ferris for his +unrelenting pursuit to better himself, and Musk for his unrelenting pursuit to +better the world around him. + +### Source + +[Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 11 on Wikisource]( +https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_11)