97 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
97 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 6"
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title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 6: On Sharing Knowledge"
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topics: [philosophy]
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pub: "2018-02-11"
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short_desc: "Knowledge withheld is only partial. Sharing knowledge, and
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experiencing it, fosters improvement!"
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---
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# Letter 6: On Sharing Knowledge
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## Original Text
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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## Response
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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.
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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.
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# Sources
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* [Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 6 on Wikisource](
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https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_6)
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* [Why I Quit Being So Accomidating](
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https://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/1922-why-i-quit-being-so-accommodating/)
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###### [Letter Index]({{ site.baseurl }}{% post_url 2018-01-15-Letters-To-Lucilius %})
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