Letters from a Stoic, Seneca

Though Seneca was an old man’s philosopher, young readers can benefit a lot from his letters. While I disagreed with some of his views on conservative living, many others would have helped me mature faster when I was young and restless. Particularly the letters about moderation, patience, and friendship: 

 

“Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.” 

 

“All this hurrying from place to place won’t bring you any relief, for you’re traveling in the company of your own emotions, followed by your troubles all the way.” 

 

“But when you are looking on anyone as a friend when you do not trust him as you trust yourself, you are making a grave mistake, and have failed to grasp sufficiently the full force of true friendship.” 

 

Insights like these are in great abundance through the book, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who disagrees with them. Others, however, were more questionable. I found his insights on exercise and limiting ones reading material detrimental to personal growth. Personally, nothing changed my life for the better more than exercise did. It’s one of the best decisions I ever made. However, I’m not 60+ years old like Seneca was, living in opulence under the influence of a crazed emperor like Nero. Things would sure be different walking in his shoes! 

Secondly, while I do feel that some books should be returned to from time to time, reading only a select few over the course of one’s life would become stale and dogmatic. In another letter he says, “The more a mind takes in the more it expands”. Well, what better way to do this than by reading a variety of materials? He seems to contradict himself there, but to be fair it’s the only time he does so among the hordes of his healthy axioms. (Side note- as a testament to its greatness, this is probably one of the books I'll be re-reading in the future.) 

Many of these axioms have relationships with eastern thought, such as the ones seen in Buddhist teachings. He writes about the release of desire as a means of achieving wholeness in a world that causes imbalance with all its temptations.