In letters from Stoic 25, Seneca is talking to Lucilius about some mistakes their two friends committed, one in his forties and the other one relatively younger. He pointed out that it’s a lot harder to change older people because of the hardcoded habits they acquired for a very long time. However, Seneca said there is still a chance for older people to change as long as they show remorse for their actions as in the case with their older friend.
In the middle part of the letter, he shortly reminded Lucilius to limit his desires because nature demands only ‘bread and water to live’. Seneca has already said in letters 2 that as long as we limit our desires we will never be poor. Poverty is a result of not having much in life but having too many desires.
In the last part of the letter, Seneca asked Lucilius to find guardians and role models. The wise old man said we are more likely to do evil things in solitude. Guardians will make us watchful for our actions. We need someone to whom we can regulate our character. “There is no real doubt that it is good for one to have appointed a guardian over oneself, and to have someone whom you may look up to, someone whom you may regard as a witness of your thoughts”
“There is no real doubt that it is good for one to have appointed a guardian over oneself, and to have someone whom you may look up to, someone whom you may regard as a witness of your thoughts”
***** Letters from a Stoic Key Takeaways is a collection of short key takeaways from the letters sent by Seneca to Lucilius. Read each letter’s key takeways here .
