Summary and key points from the writings of the ancient Stoics (Letters from a Stoic, Meditations, Discourses of Epictetus, and many more)
In this tenth letter, Seneca reiterated what he asked Lucilius in the seventh letter which is to avoid the crowd. A mass of people whose ideals and principles are different than ours may easily corrupt our characters. With no reliable person he could trust to guide Lucilius, he asked him to trust and live by himself. “I do not know any person with whom I should prefer you to associate…
In this ninth letter, Seneca explains what it means to be self-sufficient in the context of Stoicism vs other schools of philosophy (Pyrrhonism, Eclecticism, etc.) that existed during that time. All schools agree that a wise man is self-sufficient meaning he will be happy with himself alone but behaves differently when a part important to him is lost (such as friends, body parts, etc.). Other schools are insensible with the…
In this eighth letter, Seneca described his life in solitude after retirement. He turned to writing at this point to inspire the younger generation. “I have withdrawn not only from men, but from affairs, especially from my own affairs; I am working for later generations, writing down some ideas that may be of assistance to them”. It is known that the wise old was extremely during this part of his…
In this seventh letter, Seneca asked Lucilius to avoid the crowd. When he said the crowd he meant the public crowd, a group of people whose ideals and principles may be different from ours because as per Seneca they could easily and unconsciously corrupt our character and hinder our goals for self-improvement and reaching our potentials. “To consort with the crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make…
In his third letter to Lucilius, Seneca stressed about selecting and trusting friends. In this sixth letter, Seneca talked about sharing what you have with your friends and the joy that comes along with it. For him though it’s not about material possessions but the wisdom he acquired through life. Seneca was already more than 60 years old of age around this time and was giving…