"Letters from a Stoic"

 

I don't often see marble busts with
facial hair; looks hard to carve!

"Letters from a Stoic" – another of my book group reads – compiles 124 letters written by Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca to his friend Lucilius. Seneca writes about daily life and current events, using them to expound upon the stoic philosophy of living a good life by cultivating virtue.

Contrary to the common modern take, Stoicism is not about covering up emotions (keeping a stiff upper lip, as the British might say); that's a caricature created by the Epicurean critics of Stoicism. Stoics returned the favor, and now we typically think of Epicureans as incorrigible hedonists. It's pretty ironic that these days, each philosophy is best remembered for what its critics, rather than founders, had to say about it.

Stoicism is not about emulating Spock and cutting oneself off from emotions. It's a set of beliefs about what it means to live a good life. Central to this is becoming a good person through the disciplined cultivation of virtues, including wisdom, moderation, and frugality, and especially realizing and then demonstrating that we understand what is truly needed for happiness: food, shelter, good relationships. Lift up the self, then lift up others by example.

Amusingly, one of Seneca's recurring themes is to make fun of his neighbors' bathroom renovations. Why settle for a small bath in a dark cave and merely bathe for cleanliness when one could bathe as a lifestyle choice?!

But who in these days could bear to bathe in such a fashion? We think ourselves poor and mean if our walls are not resplendent with large and costly mirrors; if our marbles from Alexandria are not set off by mosaics of Numidian stone, if their borders are not faced over on all sides with difficult patterns, arranged in many colors like paintings; if our vaulted ceilings are not buried in glass; if our swimming-pools are not lined with Thasian marble, once a rare and wonderful sight in any temple pools into which we let down our bodies after they have been drained weak by abundant perspiration; and finally, if the water has not poured from silver spigots. ... We have become so luxurious that we will have nothing but precious stones to walk upon. (LXXXVI)

Clearly there should be some happy medium, but Seneca seems to describe the Roman version of keeping up with the Joneses – keeping up with the Caesars, I suppose. It's pretty ironic, considering that Seneca, essentially a billionaire, was the very Caesar others were trying to keep up with. It's interesting that one of the richest and most powerful people of his age spent so much time writing about the humble life.

One of the book's more profound ideas is Seneca's assertion that virtuous goals are directed internally, not externally – the virtuous should not be so concerned with what others think.

"If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to opinion, you will never be rich." Nature's wants are slight; the demands of opinion are boundless. ... You will only learn from such things to crave still greater. Natural desires are limited; but those which spring from false opinion can have no stopping-point. The false has no limits. When you are traveling on a road, there must be an end; but when astray, your wanderings are limitless. 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 traveled far, that there is a more distant goal always in view, you may be sure that this condition is contrary to nature. (XVI)

Verdict: mostly practical and often amusing, "Letters from a Stoic" is a good read, though Seneca repeats himself a fair bit. I'd recommend an abridged version.