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Seneca's Letters from a Stoic Kindle Edition
Explore topics ranging from the pursuit of virtue to the importance of self-reflection, all presented in Seneca's eloquent and captivating style. With each letter, you'll uncover invaluable lessons that offer a fresh perspective on overcoming adversity and finding inner peace.
Experience the power of Stoicism firsthand as you absorb Seneca's teachings and apply them to your daily life. Gain clarity, resilience, and a deeper understanding of what it means to live a meaningful existence.
This edition includes insightful commentary to further enhance your understanding and application of Seneca's teachings. Join countless readers who have found solace and inspiration within the pages of "Seneca's Letters from a Stoic."
Embrace the wisdom of the ancients and embark on a transformative journey towards a life of greater fulfillment and purpose. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enrich your mind and soul with the timeless wisdom of Seneca.
Order your copy of "Seneca's Letters from a Stoic" today and embark on a journey towards a life of wisdom and fulfillment!
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherThe griffin classics
- Publication dateMarch 18, 2024
- File size2565 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B0CYCVTQP4
- Publisher : The griffin classics (March 18, 2024)
- Publication date : March 18, 2024
- Language : English
- File size : 2565 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 784 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,490,249 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #195 in History of Greece
- #207 in Renaissance Western Philosophy
- #1,975 in Political Philosophy (Kindle Store)
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Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC – AD 65), also known as Seneca the Younger, was a Hispano-Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman and dramatist.
Fabulous wealth, literary fame, exile, an amazing come back to the height of political power and a tragic ending the life of Seneca is one of the great untold stories of Ancient Rome.
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Seneca was a highly educated man, he was accomplished in rhetoric, grammar & ethics which garnered his work tremendous influence in the ancient Roman world. It also seemed to attract the ire of Roman emperors like moths to the flame. Caligula absolutely detested Seneca & everything about his writing, often publicly mocking him as he did for other writers, such as Titus Livy & the poet Virgil. On one occasion Gaius disparagingly referred to the Stoic philosopher as a "textbook orator", his rhetoric derisively degraded as "simple school exercises". Caligula's own speaking style & rhetoric tended toward being very aggressive & often flagrantly direct, he opted for short, powerful statements & abstained from unnecessary verbiage. As such, he absolutely detested Seneca's often-flowery prose which often contained lessons or proverbs embedded in the rhetoric itself. Seneca's style was specifically designed to elicit contemplation after reading it. Caligula bluntly declaimed it as "sand without cement" meaning that Gaius believed the Stoic's rhetoric to be a collection of loose words without substance holding it together, so much superfluous linguistic regurgitation. After Seneca was alleged to have had an affair with Caligula's sister Julia Livilla, he was exiled from Rome. Claudius recalled him, then exiled him once more.
Finally, Agrippina the Younger afforded Seneca the opportunity of a lifetime after her son Nero had become emperor after Claudius' death in the year 54 A.D. She needed someone to tutor her son to the best of his abilities, to provide to him instruction on effective ruling. This was probably one of the most amazing comebacks ever chronicled throughout history, in my opinion. He & Nero's mother had a symbiotic relationship, she needed his reputation & learning to educate her young & wayward son & he needed her for protection & financial backing. That was it, right there. There were no hidden clauses in their agreement, nor was there deception between them. Obviously, Seneca experienced limited success in his efforts regarding Nero's moral & governmental edification.
'Letters from a Stoic' is actually a selection taken from a more substantial work entitled the 'Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium'. It means 'Moral Letters to Lucilius'. Lucilius was Seneca's dear friend & companion. The complete work contains one hundred & twenty-four letters in total, & Penguin's 'Letters from a Stoic' is a selection of forty of them. So it's not a lengthy book by any means, nor is the reading challenging. The translation work is done by a fellow named Robin Campbell, whom I decided I liked immediately after reading the short paragraph on the first page of the book. After discovering further along in the closing paragraphs of the excellently-written introduction that Mr. Campbell was a student of the renowned J.P.V.D. Balsdon, my affection for the man increased exponentially, as I'm familiar with some of Balsdon's work. He's a fanatic for a high-quality translation, & he speaks on the subject to a fascinating degree I found myself just as interested in learning about as I was in the book itself ! There are also other sections that analyze Seneca's life & writing style provided by Mr. Campbell which are much, much more effectively-composed than this review, so in the event that you opt to purchase the book I would strongly encourage diving into the introduction without reserve.
So, as far as my personal impressions on Seneca's writing style, he's absolutely unique amongst the writers of antiquity whose works I've read in my very-limited layman's experience. Seneca's style, probably his entire way of looking at the world, is in my opinion something that is practically extinct in our day & age. The letters are so tactfully composed that one literally feels as they're reading a constant stream of proverbs. And they are immensely well-conceived, to boot. As touched upon earlier, it is believed that Seneca wrote these letters whilst he was in his declining years preceding his very-tragic suicide so if that indeed is accurate, the man assuredly had a tremendous amount of distraction-free time in which to undertake his work with appropriate due diligence. Some of the statements Seneca makes in 'Letters from a Stoic' are so beautiful not only because of his language, but also for the resounding, unmistakable dirge of truth practically radiating from them. The values & the ethics they encourage are those of fundamental concepts every human being learns from a young age regardless of nationality or country of origin, such as mere kindness or unselfishness to one's neighbors. One of my favorite quotes of the entire book is in 'Letter VI', early in the book : 'If wisdom were offered me on the one condition that I should keep it shut away & not divulge it to anyone, I should reject it. There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with.' I think that Robin Campbell's translation work is one of the predominant reasons next to Seneca's original work itself as to why these letters read as well as they most certainly do in this book.
I surprisingly stumbled upon perhaps the most humorous part of the book in the end section with the extended notes, of all places. Scholars in the next century after Seneca's death oftentimes would criticize his work which was obviously done for the usual reasons anyone criticizes the work of another. Another grammarian, Aulus Gellius, levels "criticism" at his rhetoric & education using language I found to be utterly hysterical the way Campbell presents it, Seneca's learning is categorized as being "of a very ordinary, low-brow character", his language derisively belittled as being "trite & commonplace".
So, to sum things up, I couldn't get enough of 'Letters from a Stoic'. I thought it was a tremendous read & it easily can be read numerous times because there's so much wonderful, beneficial wisdom & advice embedded in Seneca's letters to his friend Lucilius, who probably was a low-browed character himself. The best aspect of this book in my estimation is there's really no need, at all, to have a prior background on Roman history, because most of the letters involve very introspective discussions on topics that mainly relate to being a worthwhile, upstanding human being of good moral fiber. Everything else you need to know is taken care of by Campbell, so there's nothing to worry about.
I very much hope you enjoyed reading this review, & that you perhaps learned a bit about Roman history as well !
On One's Relationship to the Material World:
*It is not the man who has too little who is poor, but the one who hankers after more.
*You ask what is the proper limit to a person's wealth? First, having what is essential, and second having what is enough.
*Although the wise man does not hanker after what he has lost, he does prefer not lose them.
*The qualities of a just, a good and an enlightened character does not regard as valuable anything that can be taken away.
*I am not against possessing riches but I want to ensure that you possess them without tremors.
On One's Relationship to Society:
*Inwardly everything should be different but our outward face should conform to the crowd.
*The road is long if one poceeds by way of precepts but short and effectual if by way of personal example.
*You ask me to say what you should consider it particularly important to avoid. My answer is this: a mass crowd.
*Associating with people in large numbers is actually harmful.
*Retire into yourself as much as you can. Associate with people who are likely to improve you.
*Avoid whatever is approved of by the mob.
*If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to people's opinions you will never be rich.
On One's Relationship to the Body:
*Pick (any exercise) for ease and straightforwardness...but whatever you do, return from body to mind very soon.
*Where you arrive does not matter so much as what sort of person you are when you arrive there.
*A way of speaking which is restrained, not bold, suits a wise man in the same way as an unassuming sort of walk does.
*Refusal to be influenced by one's body assure one's freedom.
*People who know no self-restraint lead stormy and disordered lives.
On Death:
*Every day, therefore, should be regulated as if it were the one that brings up the rear, the one that rounds out and completes our lives.
*If God adds the morrow we should accept it joyfully.
*The man you should admire and imitate is the one who finds it a joy to live and in spite of that is not reluctant to die.
*You will go the way that all things go...This is the law to which you were born.
*You will die not because you are sick but because you are alive...In getting well again you may be escaping some ill health but not death.
*We are born unequal, we die equal.
On the Value of Philosophy/Stoicism:
*It molds and builds the personality, orders one's life, regulates one's conduct, shows one what one should do and what should leave undone, sits at the helm and keeps one on the course as one is tossed about in perilous seas.
*Only philosophy will wake us; only philosophy will shake us out of that heavy sleep. Devote yourself entirely to her.
*For the only safe harbor in this life's tossing, troubled sea is to refuse to be bothered about what the future will bring and to stand ready and confident, squaring the breast to take without skulking or flinching whatever fortune hurls at us.
*It is in not man's power to have whatever he wants; but he has it in his power not to wish for what he hasn't got.
*Part of the blame lies on the teachers of philosophy, who today teach us how to argue instead of how to live...The result has been the transformation of philosophy, the study of wisdom, into philology, the study of words.
*No man is good by accident, virtue has to be learned.
By the way, before renouncing all worldly possessions keep in mind that Seneca did not practice what he preached, was intimately attached to the material world, and readers interested in an excellent biography of Seneca's life and role during Nero's reign should consider reading James Romm's "Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero."
Top reviews from other countries
One of the key strengths of "Letters from a Stoic" is its accessibility. Seneca's letters are written in a clear and engaging style, making complex philosophical concepts easily understandable for readers of all backgrounds. Whether discussing the nature of virtue, the importance of self-discipline, or the inevitability of death, Seneca's words resonate with clarity and depth, offering readers practical guidance for living a meaningful and fulfilling life.
Central to Seneca's philosophy is the idea of living in accordance with nature and accepting the things we cannot change. Through his letters, he encourages readers to cultivate inner resilience, to focus on what is within their control, and to approach life's challenges with equanimity and courage. This timeless wisdom provides a valuable roadmap for navigating the ups and downs of life with grace and dignity.
Moreover, "Letters from a Stoic" is filled with timeless insights and quotable passages that have inspired countless readers over the centuries. From reflections on the fleeting nature of fame and fortune to meditations on the value of friendship and virtue, Seneca's letters offer profound wisdom that transcends time and place.
In conclusion, "Letters from a Stoic" is a treasure trove of wisdom that offers readers timeless guidance for living a life of purpose and meaning. Seneca's letters serve as a powerful reminder of the enduring relevance of Stoic philosophy and its ability to provide solace, inspiration, and guidance to readers of all generations.
Reviewed in Canada on March 1, 2024
One of the key strengths of "Letters from a Stoic" is its accessibility. Seneca's letters are written in a clear and engaging style, making complex philosophical concepts easily understandable for readers of all backgrounds. Whether discussing the nature of virtue, the importance of self-discipline, or the inevitability of death, Seneca's words resonate with clarity and depth, offering readers practical guidance for living a meaningful and fulfilling life.
Central to Seneca's philosophy is the idea of living in accordance with nature and accepting the things we cannot change. Through his letters, he encourages readers to cultivate inner resilience, to focus on what is within their control, and to approach life's challenges with equanimity and courage. This timeless wisdom provides a valuable roadmap for navigating the ups and downs of life with grace and dignity.
Moreover, "Letters from a Stoic" is filled with timeless insights and quotable passages that have inspired countless readers over the centuries. From reflections on the fleeting nature of fame and fortune to meditations on the value of friendship and virtue, Seneca's letters offer profound wisdom that transcends time and place.
In conclusion, "Letters from a Stoic" is a treasure trove of wisdom that offers readers timeless guidance for living a life of purpose and meaning. Seneca's letters serve as a powerful reminder of the enduring relevance of Stoic philosophy and its ability to provide solace, inspiration, and guidance to readers of all generations.
Reviewed in Mexico on July 2, 2022
Na minha visão Seneca é um professor do estoicismo, Marco Aurélio um praticante fiel e independente. Conhecer as obras desses autores, é elevar a racionalidade, o pragmatismo e a resiliência.
Se você está aqui, é porque recebeu o chamado: Você está sendo convidado a ser um adulto no mundo, ir além da superficialidade do que se chama de 'inteligência emocional'. O convite é para que se torne mestre dos seus pensamentos e emoções, e direcione sua vida. Sua atitude de escolher a responsabilidade, naturalmente te tornará um guia para os que precisam de adultos para guiá-los. O estoicismo torna as pessoas líderes, mesmo que não desejem, em verdade, especialmente por não desejarem o poder, podem não ser seduzidas e confinados em seus artifícios.
Os líderes estoicos não concentram poder em si mesmos. Têm consciência de seu papel no todo, e por isso convidam a competência e a gestão descentralizada das funções vitais da Polis, do Estado. São efetivos, porque não se envaidecem ou ousam fazer tudo sozinhos. São resilientes, pois não sujam os pensamentos com preocupações desnecessárias a respeito do que está fora do controle, ou mesmo influência deles.
Busque amadurecer o caráter, o estoicismo é um excelente caminho e Seneca é um excelente guia e professor, até que você alcance a independência e a verdadeira liberdade responsável.
Reviewed in Spain on April 17, 2024
Reviewed in Italy on February 19, 2024