On the Firmness of the Wise Man E-Book

Seneca

• Herausgeber: DigiCat
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

In "On the Firmness of the Wise Man," Seneca, a prominent Stoic philosopher and statesman, explores the nature of resilience and the internal fortitude required to navigate life's adversities. Through a series of poignant essays, he employs a reflective and persuasive literary style characterized by vivid metaphors and rhetorical questions that challenge readers to examine their moral convictions and emotional responses. Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous Roman Empire, Seneca's work is deeply entrenched in Stoic thought, advocating for a life led by reason and virtue rather than the whims of fortune. Seneca's own life experiences, including his exile, political intrigues, and relationship with power, inform his philosophical outlook. A tutor to Emperor Nero, he witnessed both the heights of privilege and the depths of despair, prompting him to articulate a philosophy that emphasizes the importance of inner strength and clarity in times of crisis. His personal struggles with the very ideas he espouses enrich the text, offering authenticity and depth to his philosophical discourse. This eloquent treatise is essential reading for anyone seeking wisdom in the face of adversity. Seneca's insights resonate across ages, offering timeless guidance on cultivating resilience and achieving emotional equilibrium. Readers will find inspiration in his call to embrace reason, thereby navigating the storms of life with unyielding firmness.

Leseprobe

Seneca

On the Firmness of the Wise Man

 

EAN 8596547100096

DigiCat, 2022 Contact: [email protected]

Table of Contents

Cover

Titlepage

Text

I.

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I MIGHT truly say, Serenus, that there is as wide a difference between the Stoics and the other sects of philosophers as there is between men and women, since each class contributes an equal share to human society, but the one is born to command, the other to obey. The other philosophers deal with us gently and coaxingly, just as our accustomed family physicians usually do with our bodies, treating them not by the best and shortest method, but by that which we allow them to employ; whereas the Stoics adopt a manly course, and do not care about its appearing attractive to those who are entering upon it, but that it should as quickly as possible take us out of the world, and lead us to that lofty eminence which is so far beyond the scope of any missile weapon that it is above the reach of Fortune herself. "But the way by which we are asked to climb is steep and uneven." What then? Can heights be reached by a level path? Yet they are not so sheer and precipitous as some think. It is only the first part that has rocks and cliffs and no apparent outlet, just as many hills seen from a long way off appear abruptly steep and joined together, because the distance deceives our sight, and then, as we draw nearer, those very hills which our mistaken eyes had made into one gradually unfold themselves, those parts which seemed precipitous from afar assume a gently sloping outline. When just now mention was made of Marcus Cato, you whose mind revolts at injustice were indignant at Cato's own age having so little understood him, at its having allotted a place below Vatinius to one who towered above both Caesar and Pompeius; it seemed shameful to you, that when he spoke against some law in the Forum his toga was torn from him, and that he was hustled through the hands of a mutinous mob from the Rostra as far as the arch of Fabius, enduring all the bad language, spitting, and other insults of the frantic rabble.

II.

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I then answered, that you had good cause to be anxious on behalf of the commonwealth, which Publius Clodius on the one side, Vatinius and all the greatest scoundrels on the other, were putting up for sale, and, carried away by their blind covetousness, did not understand that when they sold it they themselves were sold with it; I bade you have no fears on behalf of Cato himself, because the wise man can neither receive injury nor insult, and it is more certain that the immortal gods have given Cato as a pattern of a wise man to us, than that they gave Ulysses or Hercules to the earlier ages; for these our Stoics have declared were wise men, unconquered by labours, despisers of pleasure, and superior to all terrors. Cato did not slay wild beasts, whose pursuit belongs to huntsmen and countrymen, nor did he exterminate fabulous creatures with fire and sword, or live in times when it was possible to believe that the heavens could be supported on the shoulders of one man. In an age which had thrown off its belief in antiquated superstitions, and had carried material knowledge to its highest point, he had to struggle against that many-headed monster, ambition, against that boundless lust for power which the whole world divided among three men could not satisfy. He alone withstood the vices of a worn-out State, sinking into ruin through its own bulk; he upheld the falling commonwealth as far as it could be upheld by one man's hand, until at last his support was withdrawn, and he shared the crash which he had so long averted, and perished together with that from which it was impious to separate him—for Cato did not outlive freedom, nor did freedom outlive Cato. Think you that the people could do any wrong to such a man when they tore away his praetorship or his toga? when they bespattered his sacred head with the rinsings of their mouths? The wise man is safe, and no injury or insult can touch him.

III.

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