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105 highlights from Kindle. These are the lines I stopped at.
For if we have sincerely retired, and have sounded the signal for retreat, and have scorned outward attractions, then, as I remarked above, [§ 4 of this letter] no outward thing will distract us; no music of men or of birds can interrupt good thoughts, when they have once become steadfast and sure.
Men think that we are in retirement, and yet we are not.
Great generals, when they see that their men are mutinous, check them by some sort of labour or keep them busy with small forays.
We must therefore rouse ourselves to action and busy ourselves with interests that are good, as often as we are in the grasp of an uncontrollable sluggishness.
Real tranquillity is the state reached by an unperverted mind when it is relaxed.
It is, indeed, nobler by far to live as you would live under the eyes of some good man, always at your side;
"It is absurd," he says, "to run towards death because you are tired of life, when it is your manner of life that has made you run towards death." [Frag.
Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man's power to live long.
A man has caught the message of wisdom, if he can die as free from care as he was at birth;
"Everyone goes out of life just as if he had but lately entered it." Take anyone off his guard, young, old, or middle-aged; you will find that all are equally afraid of death, and equally ignorant of life.
" Hence men leave such advantages as these with reluctance; they love the reward of their hardships, but curse the hardships themselves.
good man will not waste himself upon mean and discreditable work or be busy merely for the sake of being busy.
Poverty will keep for you your true and tried friends; you will be rid of the men who were not seeking you for yourself, but for something which you have.
"What is
philosophy teaches us to act, not to speak;
And as long as nothing satisfies you, you yourself cannot satisfy others.
Fortune; for, even when angry she grants enough for our needs.
a man's peace of mind does not depend upon
Endure all this for three or four days at a time, sometimes for more, so that it may be a test of yourself instead of a mere hobby.
Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: "Is this the condition that I feared?"
For the fault is not in the wealth, but in the mind itself. That which had made poverty a burden to us, has made riches also a burden.
Change the age in which you live, and you have too much. But in every age, what is enough remains the same.
be a philosopher now, whether you have anything or not, - for if you have anything, how do you know that you have not too much already? - but if you have nothing, seek understanding first, before anything else.
Therefore one should not seek to lay up riches first; one may attain to philosophy, however, even without money for the journey.
learn while you are acquiring it; for if anything forbids you to live nobly, nothing forbids you to die nobly.
Study cannot be helpful unless you take pains to live simply; and living simply is voluntary poverty.
Poverty is contented with fulfilling pressing needs.
Riches have shut off many a man from the attainment of wisdom; poverty is unburdened and free from care.
poverty may not have to be feared by you.
Cast away everything of that sort, if you are wise; nay, rather that you may be wise; strive toward a sound mind at top speed and with your whole strength. If any bond holds you back, untie it, or sever
Recall your steps, therefore, from idle things, and when you would know whether that which you seek is based upon a natural or upon a misleading desire, consider whether it can stop at any definite point. If you find, after having travelled far, that there is a more distant goal always in view, you may be sure that this condition is contrary to nature.
This also is a saying of Epicurus: "If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to opinion, you will never be rich." [Frag.
Countless things that happen every hour call for advice; and such advice is to be sought in philosophy.
it is not devised for show. It is a matter, not of words, but of facts. It is not pursued in order that the day may yield some amusement before it is spent, or that our leisure may be relieved of a tedium that irks us. It moulds and constructs the soul; it orders our life, guides our conduct, shows us what we should do and what we should leave undone;
Therefore continually remind yourself, Lucilius, how many ambitions you have attained. When you see many ahead of you, think how many are behind!
"The fool's life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future."
and this form of exercise need not be hampered by cold or hot weather, or even by old age. Cultivate that good which improves with the years.
The mind must be exercised both day and night, for it is nourished by moderate labour.
ought to keep strict account.
Now there are short and simple exercises which tire the body rapidly, and so save our time; and time is something of which we
Many inconveniences beset those who devote themselves to such pursuits.
This, then, is the sort of health you should primarily cultivate; the other kind of health comes second, and will involve little effort, if you wish to be well physically.
"If you are studying philosophy, it is well." For this is just what "being well" means.
He who craves riches feels fear on their account. No man, however, enjoys a blessing that brings anxiety; he is always trying to add a little more. While he puzzles over increasing his wealth, he forgets how to use it. He collects his accounts, he wears out the pavement in the forum, he turns over his ledger, [named kalendarium because interest was reckoned according to the Kalends of each month] - in short, he ceases to be master and becomes a steward. Farewell.
"He who needs riches least, enjoys riches most." [Epicurus, Ep. iii. p. 63. 19 Usener.]
The beginning is in our own power; fortune decides the issue, but I do not allow her to pass sentence upon myself.
Philosophy itself, however should be practised with calmness and moderation.
We should therefore look about us, and see how we may protect ourselves from the mob. And first of all, we should have no cravings like theirs; for rivalry results in strife. Again, let us possess nothing that can be snatched from us to the great profit of a plotting foe. Let there be as little booty as possible on your person.
with the greatest care; but we should also be prepared, when reason, self-respect, and duty demand the sacrifice, to deliver it even to the flames.
We should cherish the body
Virtue is held too cheap by the man who counts his body too dear.
We should conduct ourselves not as if we ought to live for the body, but as if we could not live without it. Our
what is baser than getting ready to live when you are already old?
"The fool, with all his other faults, has this also, he is always getting ready to live." [Epicurus, Frag. 494 Usener.]
We let ourselves drift with every breeze; we are frightened at uncertainties, just as if they were certain.
the idle report that disturbs us most.
And somehow or other it is
we blench and retreat just like soldiers who are forced to abandon their camp because of a dust-cloud raised by stampeding cattle, or are thrown into a panic by the spreading of some unauthenticated rumour.
Yes, my dear Lucilius; we agree too quickly with what people say. We do not put to the test those things which cause our fear; we do not examine into them;
we are tormented either by things present, or by things to come, or by both.
own affairs better than anyone else does.
because you know your
Do me the favour, when men surround you and try to talk you into believing that you are unhappy, to consider not what you hear but what you yourself feel, and to take counsel with your feelings and question yourself independently,
We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.
imagination than in reality.
There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in
"I have lived!", every morning he arises he receives a bonus.
] And if God is pleased to add another day, we should welcome it with glad hearts.
the abrupt decline.
Life is most delightful when it is on the downward slope, but has not yet reached
Let us cherish and love old age; for it is full of pleasure if one knows how to use it.
Choose a master whose life, conversation, and soul-expressing face have satisfied you; picture him always to yourself as your protector or your pattern.
If the good seeks any portion of itself from without, it begins to be subject to the play of Fortune.
The Supreme Good calls for no practical aids from outside; it is developed at home, and arises entirely within itself.
the wise man is self-sufficient. Nevertheless, he desires friends, neighbours, and associates, no matter how much he is sufficient unto himself.
The good that could be given, can be removed. [ibidem.]
What Chance has made yours is not really yours. [Com. Rom. Frag. p. 394 Ribbeck².]
For the very service of Philosophy is freedom.
Usener.] I read today, in his works, the following sentence: "If you would enjoy real freedom, you must be the slave of Philosophy."
And reflect that nothing except the soul is worthy of wonder;
that you indulge the body only so far as is needful for good health. The body should be treated more rigorously, that it may not be disobedient to the mind. Eat merely to relieve your hunger; drink merely to quench your thirst; dress merely to keep out the cold; house yourself merely as a protection against personal discomfort.
"Avoid whatever pleases the throng: avoid the gifts of Chance!
Your good qualities should face inwards.
Epicurus, written to one of the partners of his studies: "I write this not for the many, but for you; each of us is enough of an audience for the other." [Frag. 208 Usener.] 12.
Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is mutual; for men learn while they teach.
Withdraw into yourself, as far as you can. Associate with those who will make a better man of you.
you should not copy the bad simply because they are many, nor should you hate the many because they are unlike you.
Do you ask me what you should regard as especially to be avoided? I say, crowds; for as yet you cannot trust yourself to them with safety.
7. Meanwhile, I owe you my little daily contribution; you shall be told what pleased me today in the writings of Hecato;[2] it is these words: "What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself." [Frag. 26 Fowler.] 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hecato that the limiting of desires helps also to cure fears: "Cease to hope," he says, "and you will cease to fear." [Frag. 25 Fowler.] "But how," you will reply, "can things so different go side by side?"
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.
Inwardly, we ought to be different in all respects, but our exterior should conform to society.
which is enough is ready to our hands. He who has made a fair compact with poverty is rich.
In order to banish hunger and thirst, it is not necessary for you to pay court at the doors of the purse-proud, or to submit to the stern frown, or to the kindness that humiliates; nor is it necessary for you to scour the seas, or go campaigning; nature's needs are easily provided and ready to hand. 11. It is the superfluous things for which men sweat, - the superfluous things that wear our togas threadbare, that force us to grow old in camp, that dash us upon foreign shores.
No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it, or believes that living through many consulships is a great blessing.
When friendship is settled, you must trust; before friendship is formed, you must pass judgment.
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
Everywhere means nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends.
Be careful, however, lest this reading of many authors and books of every sort may tend to make you discursive and unsteady.
ethical doctrines – they turned to the Stoics to learn how to live. This is also the aspect of Stoicism most likely to be of interest to a modern reader, and so I will focus on it here. (Those interested
die naturally. This was a miscalculation: Caligula himself died in 41, while Seneca lived on, despite chronic ill-health, nearly another three decades. However, the new emperor Claudius banished Seneca shortly after taking power on the charge of having had an affair with Caligula’s sister Julia Livilla. This banishment was clearly politically motivated. Whether the charge was true or not, sexual liaisons were not the sort of things that normally led to forced exile – if they did, there would have been few aristocrats left in Rome. Indeed, exiling the many lovers of the wild Livilla would alone have brought the city’s noble population down a measurable amount.