We must understand, therefore, that what we suffer from is not the fault of the places but of ourselves: we are weak when there is anything to be endured, and cannot support either labour or pleasure, either one's own business or anyone else's for long. Among such continual topsy-turvy changes, unless you expect that whatever can happen will happen to you, you give adversity power against you, a power which can be destroyed by anyone who looks at it beforehand. works Above all, however, avoid dismal men who grumble at whatever happens, and find something to complain of in everything. Influenced by Stoic philosophy, he wrote several philosophical treatises and 124 letters on moral issues, the Epistulae Morales (Moral Epistles). True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so, wants nothing. Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC - AD 65), usually known as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and playwright of the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Let us now pass on to the consideration of property, that most fertile source of human sorrows: for if you compare all the other ills from which we sufferdeaths, sicknesses, fears, regrets, endurance of pains and labours with those miseries which our money inflicts upon us, the latter will far outweigh all the others. This year, I spent thousands of hours and thousands of dollars keeping The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) going. As soon as you have devoted yourself to philosophy, you will have overcome all disgust at life: you will not wish for darkness because you are weary of the light, nor will you be a trouble to yourself and useless to others: you will acquire many friends, and all the best men will be attracted towards you: for virtue, in however obscure a position, cannot be hidden, but gives signs of its presence: anyone who is worthy will trace it out by its footsteps: but if we give up all society, turn our backs upon the whole human race, and live communing with ourselves alone, this solitude without any interesting occupation will lead to a want of something to do: we shall begin to build up and to pull down, to dam out the sea, to cause waters to flow through natural obstacles, and generally to make a bad disposal of the time which Nature has given us to spend: some of us use it grudgingly, others wastefully; some of us spend it so that we can show a profit and loss account, others so that they have no assets remaining: than which nothing can be more shameful. From: L. Annaeus Seneca, Minor Dialogs Together with the Dialog "On Clemency"; Translated by Aubrey Stewart, pp. Then again, when the mind is elevated by the greatness of its thoughts, it becomes ostentatious in its use of words, the loftier its aspirations, the more loftily it desires to express them, and its speech rises to the dignity of its subject. If any one doubts the happiness of Diogenes, he would doubt whether the position of the immortal gods was one of sufficient happiness, because they have no farms or gardens, no valuable estates let to strange tenants, and no large loans in the money market. The Marginalian has a free Sunday digest of the week's most mind-broadening and heart-lifting reflections spanning art, science, poetry, philosophy, and other tendrils of our search for truth, beauty, meaning, and creative vitality. "You are able to please yourself," he answered, "my half pint of blood is in your power: for, as for burial, what a fool you must be if you suppose that I care whether I rot above ground or under it." Hence men undertake aimless wanderings, travel along distant shores, and at one time at sea, at another by land, try to soothe that fickleness of disposition which always is dissatisfied with the present. The square at the lower left stretches or shrinks the entire grid, but keeps the number of rows the same. The next two controls (A+ and A-) are for changing the size of the editable text. Did he wish to be reproachful, and to show him how great his cruelty must be if death became a kindness? Andrea Willis Humanities 1101 Instructor: Leila Wells Rogers 2, December, 2012 Seneca's, On Tranquility of Mind is a dialogue written to Annaeus Serenus. The inventor of wine is called Liber, not from the licence which he gives to our tongues, but because he liberates the mind from the bondage of cares, and emancipates it, animates it, and renders it more daring in all that it attempts. they slew thirteen hundred citizens, all the best men, and did not leave off because they had done so, but their cruelty became stimulated by exercise. So, what Seneca has in mind is a state of mental tranquility that goes together with confidence and serenity. It all seemed to work OK. Here is Seneca's Of Peace of Mind in a few different formats. Often a man who is very old in years has nothing beyond his age by which he can prove that he has lived a long time.". As a tragedian, he is best-known for his Medea and Thyestes. Nevertheless we ought to mix up these two things, and to pass our lives alternately in solitude and among throngs of people; for the former will make us long for the society of mankind, the latter for that of ourselves, and the one will counteract the other: solitude will cure us when we are sick of crowds, and crowds will cure us when we are sick of solitude. This would be more fittingly answered in a coherent work designed to prove that a Providence does preside over the universe, and that God concerns himself with us. "Uninterrupted productivity will soon exhaust it, so constant effort will sap our mental vigor, while a short period of . a full page of OCR text. About Dialogues and Letters. In this case, however, caution can effect nothing but to make you ungenerous. There are no comments. 1 Inquirenti mihi in me quaedam uitia apparebant, Seneca, in aperto posita, quae manu prehenderem, quaedam obscuriora et in recessu, quaedam non continua, sed ex interuallis redeuntia, quae uel molestissima dixerim, ut hostes uagos et ex occasionibus assilientes, per quos neutrum licet, nec tamquam in bello paratum esse nec tamquam in . We never can so thoroughly defeat the vast diversity and malignity of misfortune with which we are threatened as not to feel the weight of many gusts if we offer a large spread of canvas to the wind: we must draw our affairs into a small compass, to make the darts of Fortune of no avail. I like[1] a rough and unpolished homebred servant, I like my servant born in my house: I like my country-bred father's heavy silver plate stamped with no maker's name: I do not want a table that is beauteous with dappled spots, or known to all the town by the number of fashionable people to whom it has successively belonged, but one which stands merely for use, and which causes no guest's eye to dwell upon it with pleasure or to kindle at it with envy. When I return from seeing it I am a sadder, though not a worse man, I cannot walk amid my own paltry possessions with so lofty a step as before, and silently there steals over me a feeling of vexation, and a doubt whether that way of life may not be better than mine. in the place of the best possible man take him who is least bad. No one will bring back the years; no one will restore you to yourself. "The best thing," as Athenodorus says, "is to occupy oneself with business, with the management of affairs of state and the duties of a citizen: for as some pass the day in exercising themselves in the sun and in taking care of their bodily health, and athletes find it most useful to spend the greater part of their time in feeding up the muscles and strength to whose cultivation they have devoted their lives; so too for you who are training your mind to take part in the struggles of political life, it is far more honourable to be thus at work than to be idle. I will set sail unless anything happens to prevent me, I shall be praetor, if nothing hinders me, my financial operations will succeed, unless anything goes wrong with them. Do you think that Kanus played upon that draught-board? Is this a case of philosophers preaching one thing, but . Yet he does not hold himself cheap, because he knows that he is not his own, but performs all his duties as carefully and prudently as a pious and scrupulous man would take care of property left in his charge as trustee. It will not lengthen itself for a king's command or a people's favour. Men do not suffer anyone to seize their estates, and they rush to stones and arms if there is even the slightest dispute about the limit of their lands, yet they allow others to trespass upon their lifenay, they themselves even lead in those who will eventually possess it. But I fear that custom, which confirms most things, implants this vice more and more deeply in me. https://www.themarginalian.org/2017/11/30/seneca-on-the-tranquility-of-mind/ There are other special forms of this disease without number, but it has but one effect, that of making people dissatisfied with themselves. At such times I forget my mild and moderate determination and soar higher than is my wont, using a language that is not my own. I think of houses too, where one treads on precious stones, and where valuables lie about in every corner, where the very roof is brilliantly painted, and a whole nation attends and accompanies an inheritance on the road to ruin. When the mind pays no attention to good advice, and cannot be brought to its senses by milder measures, why should we not think that its interests are being served by poverty, disgrace, or financial ruin being applied to it? I thought this one particular essay, On the Tranquility of the Mind, was so good, however, that I wanted to see if there was a copyright-free . His own teacher of philosophy accompanied him, and they were not far from the hill on which the daily sacrifice to Caesar our god was offered, when he said, "What are you thinking of now, Kanus? Here is Seneca's Of Peace of Mind in a few different formats. The same thing applies both to those who suffer from fickleness and continual changes of purpose, who always are fondest of what they have given up, and those who merely yawn and dawdle: add to these those who, like bad sleepers, turn from side to side, and settle themselves first in one manner and then in another, until at last they find rest through sheer weariness: in forming the habits of their lives they often end by adopting some to which they are not kept by any dislike of change, but in the practice of which old age, which is slow to alter, has caught them living: add also those who are by no means fickle, yet who must thank their dullness, not their consistency for being so, and who go on living not in the way they wish, but in the way they have begun to live. In this paper, I will defend the claim that people should limit their possessions to be less exposed to sudden misfortunes, made by Seneca in the dialogue "On the Tranquility of Mind" from the objection that sufficient property can repel any misfortune. The dead have often been wailed for in my neighbourhood: the torch and taper have often been borne past my door before the bier of one who has died before his time: the crash of falling buildings has often resounded by my side: night has snatched away many of those with whom I have become intimate in the forum, the Senate-house, and in society, and has sundered the hands which were joined in friendship: ought I to be surprised if the dangers which have always been circling around me at last assail me? for even those whose children were put to death, and whose goods were confiscated, used to thank him: or was it that he willingly received death, regarding it as freedom? report. I have long been silently asking myself, my friend Serenus, to what I should liken such a condition of mind, and I find that nothing more closely resembles it than the conduct of those who, after having recovered from a long and serious illness, occasionally experience slight touches and twinges, and, although they have passed through the final stages of the disease, yet have suspicions that it has not left them, and though in perfect health yet hold out their pulse to be felt by the physician, and whenever they feel warm suspect that the fever is returning. what office is there whose purple robe, augur's staff, and patrician reins have not as their accompaniment rags and banishment, the brand of infamy, a thousand disgraces, and utter reprobation? True, I am reaping the benefit . September 4, 2020 . It was, I imagine, following out this principle that Democritus taught that "he who would live at peace must not do much business either public or private," referring of course to unnecessary business: for if there be any necessity for it we ought to transact not only much but endless business, both public and private; in cases, however, where no solemn duty invites us to act, we had better keep ourselves quiet: for he who does many things often puts himself in Fortune's power, and it is safest not to tempt her often, but always to remember her existence, and never to promise oneself anything on her security. According to Seneca - how does one achieve "tranquility of mind."? a Seneca begins his answer by assuring Serenus that what he is after is indeed the greatest thing, a state that he calls peace of mind (or tranquillity). Yet even this life, which hides nothing from any one runs some risk of being despised; for there are people who disdain whatever they come close to: but there is no danger of virtue's becoming contemptible when she is brought near our eyes, and it is better to be scorned for one's simplicity than to bear the burden of unceasing hypocrisy. De Tranquillitate Animi ( On the tranquility of the mind / on peace of mind) is a Latin work by the Stoic philosopher Seneca (4 BC-65 AD). There are many who must needs cling to their high pinnacle of power, because they cannot descend from it save by falling headlong: yet they assure us that their greatest burden is being obliged to be burdensome to others, and that they are nailed to their lofty post rather than raised to it: let them then, by dispensing justice, clemency, and kindness with an open and liberal hand, provide themselves with assistance to break their fall, and looking forward to this maintain their position more hopefully. A tyrant threatened Theodorus with death, and even with want of burial. The book On Shortness of Life is a subset of the much larger work of Seneca that make up the Stoic classic Letters from Stoic. whole grid up or down. Serenity may be the key: it implies a certain detachment from the details and pressures of our usual preoccupations with . [17] Seneca argues that the goal of a tranquil mind can be achieved by being flexible and seeking a middle way between the two extremes.[17]. A household of slaves requires food and clothing: the bellies of so many hungry creatures have to be filled: we must buy raiment for them, we must watch their most thievish hands, and we must make use of the services of people who weep and execrate us. Seneca - Nhng bc th o c l tuyn tp cc bc th ca trit gia Seneca v Ch ngha Khc K, nhm trang b cho con ngi hnh trang i mt v mm ci trc sng gi ca cuc i, t c s bnh thn trong tm tr. What you need, therefore, is, not any of those harsher remedies to which allusion has been made, not that you should in some cases check yourself, in others be angry with yourself, in others sternly reproach yourself, but that you should adopt that which comes last in the list, have confidence in yourself, and believe that you are proceeding on the right path, without being led aside by the numerous divergent tracks of wanderers which cross it in every direction, some of them circling about the right path itself. What this state of weakness really is, when the mind halts between two opinions without any strong inclination towards either good or evil, I shall be better able to show you piecemeal than all at once. A soldier is not merely one who stands in the ranks and defends the right or the left wing of the army, but he also who guards the gatesa service which, though less dangerous, is no sinecurewho keeps watch, and takes charge of the arsenal: though all these are bloodless duties, yet they count as military service. Seneca. Write something therefore in a simple style, merely to pass the time, for your own use, and not for publication. I will not hastily leave the subject of a great man, and one who deserves to be spoken of with respect: I will hand thee down to all posterity, thou most noble heart, chief among the many victims of Gaius. Can you help me know where it is from and recommend a good translation? If the object of life is not mere resilience but flourishing, attaining it may be less a matter of wild pursuit of favorable outcomes that leave us perpetually dissatisfied and reaching for more than of wise acceptance that allows us to do the best we can with the cards weve been dealt. Look upon the universe: you will see the gods quite bare of property, and possessing nothing though they give everything. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. De Tranquillitate Animi (On the tranquility of the mind) is a Latin work by Seneca (4 BC-65 AD). Tranquility of your mind is the real benefit of achieving euthymia. Such men, Serenus, are not unhealthy, but they are not accustomed to being healthy; just as even a quiet sea or lake nevertheless displays a certain amount of ripple when its waters are subsiding after a storm. So deeply has this evil of being guided by the opinion of others taken root in us, that even grief, the simplest of all emotions, begins to be counterfeited. What is the use of possessing numberless books and libraries, whose titles their owner can hardly read through in a lifetime? To contact the author, send email. Serenus was a friend of Seneca's and also a protector of the Roman Emperor, Nero. He advises us to choose our companions carefully, since if we choose those that are corrupted by the vices, their vices will extend to us (chapter 7). I googled it and searched it, but I can't find where this quote is from. Download On the Tranquility of the Mind Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC - AD 65), fully Lucius Annaeus Seneca and also known simply as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and--in one work--humorist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. I have to confess the greatest possible love of thrift: I do not care for a bed with gorgeous hangings, nor for clothes brought out of a chest, or pressed under weights and made glossy by frequent manglings, but for common and cheap ones, that require no care either to keep them or to put them on. Serenus explains that he feels agitated, and in a state of unstable immobility, "as if I were on a boat that doesn't move forward and is tossed about. Your support makes all the difference. support for as long as it lasted.) he follows himself and weighs himself down by his own most burdensome companionship. Bohn's Classical Library Edition; London, George Bell and Sons, 1900; Scanned and digitized by Google from a copy maintained by the University of Virginia. Take from me, then, this evil, whatever it may be, and help one who is in distress within sight of land. Less labour is needed when one does not look beyond the present." The Stoic writings of the philosopher Seneca, who lived from c. 5 BC to AD 65, offer powerful insights into the art of living, the importance of reason and morality, and continue to provide profound guidance to many through their eloquence, lucidity and timeless wisdom. The dialogue concerns the state of mind of Seneca's The two arrow controls after that are for scooting the This has driven some men to death, because by frequently altering their purpose they were always brought back to the same point, and had left themselves no room for anything new. I am not sure what he meant: for many ways of explaining his conduct occur to me. "Silence is a lesson learned through life's many sufferings."-. They wander purposelessly seeking for something to do, and do, not what they have made up their minds to do, but what has casually fallen in their way. Seneca is a major philosophical figure of the Roman Imperial Period. Yet on the day on which the Senate disgraced him, the people tore him to pieces: the executioner[8] could find no part left large enough to drag to the Tiber, of one upon whom gods and men had showered all that could be given to man. kept his version of the title. I have now, my beloved Serenus, given you an account of what things can preserve peace of mind, what things can restore it to us, what can arrest the vices which secretly undermine it: yet be assured, that none of these is strong enough to enable us to retain so fleeting a blessing, unless we watch over our vacillating mind with intense and unremitting care. As Nero's tutor, he tried to pass on his philosophy of a virtuous . Long acquaintance with both good and bad people leads one to esteem them all alike. ON THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE MIND TO SERENUS 1. serenus: * When I examined myself, Seneca, it appeared that certain of my vices are so plain to view that I can lay my hand on them, certain others are less visible and hide in a corner, while others, again, are not permanent but recur at intervals, and I should say that it is this last category which causes by far the greatest trouble, like an . Did my slave run away? Although tranquility is a fundamental aspect of human life, the experiential nature of tranquility remains elusive. How to maintain a tranquil mind amongst social upheaval and turmoil, addressed to Serenus. Aurelius was an emperor, Seneca was an advisor to Nero and a poet, and Epictetus was the founder of a successful Hellenistic school. Feel free to look at it for ideas, Call good sense to your aid against difficulties: it is possible to soften what is harsh, to widen what is too narrow, and to make heavy burdens press less severely upon one who bears them skillfully. But Diogenes's only slave ran away from him, and when he was pointed out to Diogenes, he did not think him worth fetching back. The term euthymia, or "cheerfulness", can mean steadiness of the mind, well-being of the soul, self-confidence. The dialogue concerns the state of mind of Seneca's friend Annaeus Serenus, and how to cure Serenus of anxiety, worry and disgust with life. I skipped ahead in the book, and began working first with this dialogue that I was so taken with. But in our quest to do the best we can, we are apt to defeat ourselves by pushing against life with the brute force of uncalibrated ambition, razing our peace of mind on the sharp-edged sense that there is always more to achieve. Athenodorus said that "he would not so much as dine with a man who would not be grateful to him for doing so": meaning, I imagine, that much less would he go to dinner with those who recompense the services of their friends by their table, and regard courses of dishes as donatives, as if they overate themselves to do honour to others. The Tranquility of Mind Seneca's dialogue with Serenus, more of an essay than a dialogue, is essentially comprised of the many . editable text boxes to the left or right. This pragmatic approach was the perspective Roman society used to analyze their material reality 100% Upvoted. Nor did he up to the very end cease his search after truth, and raised arguments upon the subject of his own death. Expand. [7][8][9], De Tranquillitate Animi is part of Seneca's series of Dialogi (dialogues). December, 2012 Seneca's, On Tranquility of Mind is a dialogue written to Annaeus Serenus. Hence comes melancholy and drooping of spirit, and a thousand waverings of the unsteadfast mind, which is held in suspense by unfulfilled hopes, and saddened by disappointed ones: hence comes the state of mind of those who loathe their idleness, complain that they have nothing to do, and view the progress of others with the bitterest jealousy: for an unhappy sloth favours the growth of envy, and men who cannot succeed themselves wish everyone else to be ruined. Spain, at about the same time as Christ.1 His father, Marcus Annaeus Seneca, was an imperial procurator2 who became an authority on rhetoric, the art of public speaking and debate.3 He was the father not only of our Seneca, who speaks of his old-fashioned strictness,4 but also of Novatus, later known as Gallio, the governor of Achaea who declined to exercise jurisdiction I'm a programmer, so I wrote one. Here are 30 Seneca quotes to help you live a fulfilling and worthwhile life. Where are the riches after which want, hunger, and beggary do not follow? then let him be an advocate: is he condemned to keep silence? 2010. [5], De Tranquillitate Animi is thought to be written during the years 49 to 62 A.D. one evil is balanced by another. Other Titles: Dialogi. Similarly I assure you that these minds over which desires have spread like evil ulcers, take pleasure in toils and troubles, for there are some things which please our body while at the same time they give it a certain amount of pain, such as turning oneself over and changing one's side before it is wearied, or cooling oneself in one position after another. The letter known today as On the Tranquility of Mind is unique among the dialogues because it provides a genuine exchange between Serenus and Seneca. This dislike of other men's progress and despair of one's own produces a mind angered against fortune, addicted to complaining of the age in which it lives to retiring into corners and brooding over its misery, until it becomes sick and weary of itself: for the human mind is naturally nimble and apt at movement: it delights in every opportunity of excitement and forgetfulness of itself, and the worse a man's disposition the more he delights in this, because he likes to wear himself out with busy action, just as some sores long for the hands that injure them and delight in being touched, and the foul itch enjoys anything that scratches it. Abstract: The Stoic writings of the philosopher Seneca offer powerful insights into the art of living and the importance of reason and morality and continue to provide . Our ancestors, too, forbade any new motion to be made in the Senate after the tenth hour. Andrea Willis Humanities Instructor: Leila Wells Rogers 2, December, Seneca's, On Tranquility of Mind is a dialogue written to Annaeus Serenus. Thus in the houses of the laziest of men you will see the works of all the orators and historians stacked upon bookshelves reaching right up to the ceiling. He was playing at draughts when the centurion in charge of a number of those who were going to be executed bade him, join them: on the summons he counted his men and said to his companion, "Mind you do not tell a lie after my death, and say that you won;" then, turning to the centurion, he said "You will bear me witness that I am one man ahead of him." It also proves a fertile source of troubles if you take pains to conceal your feelings and never show yourself to any one undisguised, but, as many men do, live an artificial life, in order to impose upon others: for the constant watching of himself becomes a torment to a man, and he dreads being caught doing something at variance with his usual habits, and, indeed, we never can be at our ease if we imagine that everyone who looks at us is weighing our real value: for many things occur which strip people of their disguise, however reluctantly they may part with it, and even if all this trouble about oneself is successful, still life is neither happy nor safe when one always has to wear a mask. Luck is what happens when preparation . or did he upbraid him with his accustomed insanity? You have filled public offices: were they either as important, as unlooked for, or as all-embracing as those of Sejanus? 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