Letters from a Stoic Key Takeaways
[expand title=”How To Use”]This is a collection of short key takeaways (less than 500 words) from the letters sent by Seneca to Lucilius. Seneca’s letters are one of our favorite stoic reflections so we put into a collection some of the most important stoic concepts that Seneca discussed in the letters and the most beautiful pieces of advice he gave to Lucilius. We recommend using Letters from a Stoic by Robert Mott Gummere as a reference as it is the most complete with all the 124 letters. Other books have missing letters. Free free to BOOKMARK this page so you can go back to it later as you read through the letters.
There are three ways to use these key takeaways:
(1) You can use it as a preview before you read a letter so you get a sneak peek of the most important concepts
(2) You can use it as a review after you read a letter to wrap up things up
(3) Or if you have read all the letters before you can use these to refresh your memory
Regardless of how you use it, we hope you find values in these key takeaways. If you have questions or if you like to get more content in stoicism in general you can follow us with our social media pages via the links on top of the page. We are most active in our twitter page which is @moderntimestoic [/expand]
Letters from a Stoic Conceptual Summary (41-60)
Click on a letter (violet text)
Letter 41:
(1) God within us; Stoic affinity to nature
(2) Soul: the only thing that cannot be taken from us
(3) To use reason is to live in accordance with nature
Letter 42:
(1) Good people don’t know their good
(2) Understand our values
(3) Loss is a matter of perception
Letter 43:
(1) Relativity of fame
(2) Conscience: a measure of man’s character
Letter 44:
(1) Philosophy does not care about ancestry
(2) Means of producing happiness is not happiness itself
Letter 45:
(1) Quality not quantity of books
(2) Take any work with a grain of salt
(3) Friendship built around flattery
(4) What makes a man happy?
(5) Pursue only good things in life
Lesson 46:
A critique on the book by Lucilius
Letter 47:
(1) How slaves are maltreated
(2) Slaves are equal and deserve respect
Letter 48:
(1) Mutuality of Stoic friendship
(2) Stoics’ sense of obligation to his fellow men
Letter 49:
(1) Places brings memories back
(2) Good life is not a function of time spent
(3) Death is always near us
Letter 50:
(1) Fault is not external
(2) We can be blinded by our vices
(3) Virtues will stay long
Letter 51:
(1) Selecting the right place to live in
(2) The danger of pleasures and vices
Letter 52:
(1) Two types of men seeking self-improvement
(2) Choosing the right mentor
(3) Evaluating people’s praise
Letter 53:
(1) Diseases of the body vs soul
(2) Philosophy as a cure to the diseases of the soul
(3) Sage vs god
Explore:
*We are constantly updating this page. Stay tuned for the other letters.