This third letter to Lucilius is all about friendship. Seneca talked about choosing our friends carefully. Once we have decided who we should be friends with we have to put all trust to them as we put trust in ourselves.
“Ponder for a long time whether you shall admit a given person to your friendship; but when you have decided to admit him, welcome him with all your heart and soul. Speak as boldly with him as with yourself.”
We cannot be just friends with everyone. If we do we fail to realize that everyone has a system of beliefs and values. At some point, without recognizing it, we will bend our principles and our character so we can continue to be friends with other people. Seneca stressed out that we only need a few friends whom we could fully give our trust. As he beautifully puts it,
“It is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.”
***** 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 .
