Seneca: Stoic Sayings on Virtue, Friendship, Pleasure, Philosophy, and Joy

Today we will learn and reflect on the writings of Seneca.
Seneca and the Stoics were the self-help gurus of the ancient
world.
You may ask, how can we benefit when we ponder the stoicism of
Seneca?
Living a godly and moral life is all that mattered to the Stoic
philosophers. In this video we will ponder what Seneca tells us
about how virtues are not changed by suffering, the virtue of
kindness and graciousness, healing power of forgiveness, true
wisdom, and many other wise sayings of Seneca.

At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video, and my blogs that also cover this
topic. Please, we welcome interesting questions in
the comments, sometimes these will generate short
videos of their own. Let us learn and reflect
together!

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Seneca: Stoic Sayings on Virtue, Friendship,
Pleasure, Joy, and Philosophy
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To Seneca, virtue is not like the house built on sand that is swept
away by the first storm, virtue is the house built on the rocks, the
house that stands firm against the waves and the storms that
crash against the rocks, the house of virtue is never moved.

Letter LXVI – On Various Aspects of Virtue
Neither extreme moves the stoic
philosopher. “’What then,’ you say, ‘is there
no difference between joy and unyielding
endurance of pain?’ None at all. For joy
there is a natural relaxation and loosening of
the soul, for suffering there is an unnatural
pain. Virtue does not change by either
extreme, hard and stubborn suffering does
not make virtue worse, and pleasant joy
does not make virtue superior.” Seneca says
“every honorable act is voluntary. But if the
honorable act is done with reluctance,
complaints, cowardice, or fear, it loses its
best characteristic – self-approval.”

“You may ask, ‘Are you trying to make us
believe that it does not matter whether a
man feels joy, or whether he lies upon
the rack and tires out his torturer?’ I
might answer, ‘Epicurus also maintains
that the wise man, though he is being
burned in the bull of Phalaris, will cry
out, This is pleasant, and concerns me
not at all.”
Seneca refers here to an ancient torture,
the hapless victim is forced into a hollow
iron bull of Phalaris in which he is
roasted alive over a blazing fire.
German painting, 16th Century

As Seneca says, “There is an equality
between feeling joy with self-control and
feeling pain with self-control.” Joy is more
desirable, but enduring suffering is more
admirable. While joy is more desirable than
suffering, the virtue that enables us to
patiently endure hardships is more desirable.

Seneca asks, “what is the purpose of all this? That you may know
that virtue regards all her works in the same light, as if they were
her children, showing equal kindness to all, and still deeper
kindness to those who encounter hardships; for even parents feel
more affection towards her children whom she pities most.”

This reminds us of the father in the
Parable of the Prodigal Son. The father
loves both his older son and his
prodigal son, he loves his older son
and all that he has will be his, but for
the prodigal son who was lost in a
faraway land but has now returned, he
forgives and rejoices, killing the fatted
calf for a celebration.

Virtue shines like the sun. Seneca says,
“Vexation and pain and other
inconveniences are powerless, for virtue
overcomes them. Just as the brightness of
the sun dims lesser lights, so virtue by its
brilliance shatters and overwhelms all
pains, annoyances, and wrongs.
Wherever virtue’s radiance shines all other
lights are extinguished, inconveniences
are like clouds over the sea.”

The Stoic philosophers, in particular Epictetus, often refer to
either god or Zeus as if he were a monotheistic god like the
Christian God. We see this in this letter by Seneca:

Letter LXXI On the Supreme Good:
For our life to have purpose, for us not to have lived
our life in vain, we must purpose our lives towards the
Supreme Good, that which is honorable. Seneca says
“our plans miscarry when they have no aim. When a
man knows not what harbor is his destination, no
wind is the right wind.”

For a Christian, what
does it mean to live an
honorable life in
service of the Supreme
Good? To love God
with all of our heart
and with all of our soul
and with all of our
mind and with all of
our purpose, and not
only to love our
neighbor as ourselves,
to be eager to forgive
the faults and
shortcomings of our
neighbor.

Seneca does not say this exactly, he is a bit vague as to what he
means by honorable, but yet this teaching of Jesus fits the hands
of Seneca like a glove.

Seneca says, “That which is honorable is the only
good, all other goods are alloyed and debased.”
When you “love virtue with devotion, for mere
loving is not enough, anything that has been
touched by virtue will be fraught with blessing and
prosperity for you, no matter how it shall be
regarded by others.”
All the sufferings of life “which others regard as
ills will become manageable and will end in
good, if you succeed in rising above them.”
Seneca quotes Socrates, “Allow any man who
wishes to insult you and harm you, but if only virtue
dwells within you, you will suffer nothing.”

One reason why I am so fond of the Stoic philosophers is so
many Christians have this notion that if they just pray to God that
God will deliver them and their loved ones from suffering,
sickness and death, and guarantee them a life free from worry
and trials and tribulations. Then they get mad at God when they
think he has broken his end of the bargain when life throws
challenges and suffering their way.

Indeed, Seneca says the wise man is happy in his
sufferings, “for unless a man is happy, he has not
attained the Supreme Good. If only virtue exists in a
man, and if adversity does not impair his virtue, and
though the body be injured, virtue abides
unharmed.”
Seneca observes, “the happiness of those who are
still shy of perfection whose happiness can be
aborted, but the joy of a wise man is a woven fabric,
a joy not rent by chance nor by a change in fortune,
for at all times and in all places a wise man is at
peace. The joy of a wise man depends on nothing
external and looks for no boon from man or
fortune. His happiness is something within himself, it
is born there.”

St. Augustine in His Study, painted 1502 by Vittore Carpaccio
As St Augustine teaches, those
who are truly happy are those who
Love God, and who love their
neighbor as themselves, they
never complain of their sufferings,
they are as happy when they are
blessed as when they endure
suffering, always loving, always
forgiving, always compassionate,
always enduring, always happy.

Seneca also has many thoughts on FRIENDSHIP.
My former friend, or maybe my former acquaintance, as I have
not heard from my former friend in quite a long time, was always
complaining about her other friends, who always took
advantage of her friendship. She kept a scorecard on her
friends, how many times she called them, how many times they
called her, how often she visited them, how often they visited
her, how many favors she did them, how many favors she
received in turn, and if her friends weren’t as friendly to her as
she was to them, then they were no longer her friend.

Seneca no doubt had met people like my
former friend. Seneca says, “You complain
you know an ungrateful person. If this is a
new experience for you, you should be
thankful for either your good luck or your
abundant caution, but beware, lest such
caution makes you less generous.” The
keeper of the scorecard in a friendship risks
running off his friends. How should the good
man keep his scorecard? “The good man
voluntarily cheats himself by adding to the
benefits he receives and subtracting from the
injuries he suffers.” Perhaps this is another
definition of patience and kindness, the first
attributes of love and friendship.

“It is better to get no return than confer no
benefits. Even after a poor crop one should sow
again,” maybe next year’s crop will be a bumper
crop. It is worth being patient with many ingrates to
find one grateful person. “When the outcome of any
undertaking is unsure, you must try again and again,
so you may ultimately succeed.”
Who truly benefits from our kindness? “The reward
for all virtues lies in the virtues themselves.” Virtues
do not seek recognition or plaques or even
encouragement, “the wages of a good deed lie in
the doing of the deed.”
Seneca affirms, “I am grateful, not so my neighbor
should reward me for my act of kindness, but
rather I am grateful to perform acts of loving
kindness; I feel grateful, not to profit from my
kindness, but for the pleasure of being kind.”

Seneca says, “Let us avoid being
ungrateful, not for the sake of
others but for our own
sake.” Likewise, Seneca warns,
“evil drinks the largest portion of
her own poison.” “When we do
wrong, only the least portion flows
back upon our neighbor, the worst
and densest portion blows back,
troubling us instead.” “The
ungrateful man tortures and
torments himself; he hates his
gifts for he must return the favor,
he tries to belittle their value, but
when he does this, he hurts
himself instead. What is more
wretched than the man who
forgets his benefits and clings to
his injuries?”

The wise, on the other hand, are gracious, the wise look for the
good, the wise are forgiving. Those who are evil find fault with
their neighbor but find excuses for their own faults, while those
who seek to love their neighbor seek to see the good in their
neighbor’s heart, excusing their faults, while searching their
hearts and repenting of their shortcomings.

The wise man lives a life of purposeful naivety.
Seneca agrees, saying “wisdom lends grace to every
benefit, and delights her soul by recollecting the
benefit.” But the wise man “takes delight not so much from
receiving the gift as in having received it, and this joy never
perishes, abiding always. Though the wise man may
despise the wrongs done to him, he forgets them, not
accidentally, but voluntarily. The wise man does not put
a wrong construction upon everything, or seek
someone to blame, but rather he ascribes even the sins
of men to chance. The wise man will not misinterpret a
word or a look, he makes light of all mishaps by interpreting
them in a generous way. He does not remember the
injury, rather, the wise man remembers the earlier and
better deed,” except when the bad deeds totally
overwhelm the good deeds.

The best example is Joseph, whose brothers contemplating
murdering him for the favor shown to him by Jacob, but who was
sold into slavery in Egypt instead. After suffering much he rose
in power to be the viceroy to the Pharaoh.
Famine struck, no grain grew, the land was hungry, and the
brothers traveled to Egypt to buy grain to avoid starvation, not
knowing Joseph’s fate, not knowing that he had been put in a
position of authority by the Pharaoh. Joseph did not reveal
himself to his brothers and put them through many trials to see if
they had repented of their great sin.
This story is Exodus is really captivating stories, here are some
excerpts:

Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, Saavedra, painted 1650’s.

Franz Anton Maulbertsch - Joseph and his Brothers, painted 1740’s
When they traveled to Egypt to
buy grain, they were accused
and brought before an official of
the Pharaoh. Assuming that the
man standing before them could
not understand Hebrew, the
brothers talked among
themselves while they were
being questioned.
“Alas, we are paying the penalty
for what we did to our brother;
we saw his anguish when he
pleaded with us, but we would
not listen. That is why this
anguish has come upon us.”
Then Reuben answered them,
“Did I not tell you not to wrong
the boy? But you would not
listen. So now there comes a
reckoning for his blood.”
Genesis 42

After the brothers made several trips to Egypt over ten chapters
in Genesis, and we encourage you to read these for yourself,
Joseph revealed himself to them, and invited his father and
brothers to settle in the Egyptian delta to escape the famine.
After some years their father died.

Leon Bourgeois, Joseph recognized by his brothers, painted 1863

Scriptures tell us, “Realizing that their father was dead,
Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph still bears a
grudge against us and pays us back in full for all
the wrong that we did to him?’ So they approached
Joseph, saying, ‘Your father gave this instruction
before he died, ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the
crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in
harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime
of the servants of the God of your father.’ Joseph wept,
then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and
said, ‘We are here as your slaves.’ But Joseph said to
them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God?
Even though you intended to do harm to me, God
intended it for good, in order to preserve a
numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no
fear; I myself will provide for you and your little
ones.’ In this way he reassured them, speaking
kindly to them.”
Balthasar Beschey - The brothers try to
buy corn from Joseph, the Vice-Roy of
Egypt, painted 1744

So Joseph lived the advice Seneca gives us about forgiving our
brothers. And Seneca gives us advice that will keep us from
being tempted to judge the sins of our neighbor.

Seneca tells us, “The first and
worst penalty of sin is to have
committed sin,” and although the
thief may grow rich through crime,
though Fortune may protect the
thief, “crime never goes
unpunished, since the
punishment lies in committing
the crime itself,” for the criminal
lives in “constant fear, constant
terror,” never secure, never
sleeping peacefully, always
wakened by the pangs of
conscience. “Even men who hide
their sins can never count on
remaining hidden, for their
conscience convicts them and
reveals them to themselves.”
“The worst punishment for crime
lies in the crime itself.”

This is best illustrated by a story told by
Epictetus. One night a thief stole his lamp one
night. The thief thought he got the best part, but
actually Epictetus got the better end of the
exchange. For Epictetus only lost his lamp, but he
kept his faith. The man who stole his lamp, in
exchange for the lamp he consented to become a
thief, becoming faithless. Epictetus tells us further,
“Forgiveness is better than revenge. Forgiveness
shows gentleness, revenge shows savagery.”
Many other sayings by Seneca are echoes in the
works of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
EPICTETUS: ROMAN STOIC PHILOSOPHER

Seneca tells us, “The soul is
more powerful than Fortune,
on its own the soul can
produce a happy life or a
wretched life.” “A bad man
makes everything bad, but an
upright and honest man can
correct the wrongs of
Fortune, softening hardship
and bitterness through
endurance, accepting
prosperity with appreciation
and moderation, standing up
to troubles with steadfastness
and courage.”

Seneca tells us that though we sometimes need to be wary of
those who might cause us harm, we still need treat each other by
the Golden Rule, to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Letter CIII – On the Dangers of Associations with
our Fellow Man
Seneca warns us not “to trust the countenances of
those whom we meet.” Men may appear to be
kind in their appearances but often men possess
souls of brutal beasts in their hearts. The
difference is beasts may attack you when they first
encounter you from fear or hunger, but once your
paths depart beasts will usually not pursue you
further. Men, however, scheme and often delight
in destroying one another, making each other’s
lives miserable.

How should you treat your
fellow man?
Seneca tells us, “Try, in your
dealings with others, to harm
not, in order that you not be
harmed.”
That is the negative form of the command to love your neighbor as
yourself, what is the positive command? “You should rejoice with
your neighbor in all his joys and sympathize with him in all his
troubles, remembering what you should offer and what you should
withhold.” What should we offer? That which increases the love in our
hearts. What should be withheld? The bitterness and anger and
resentments that so often poison our relationships.

Mere men may be impressed by our outward actions, but God, who alone
can truly see into our heart, knows our motives, and it is our motives that
determine whether we act selflessly in love or selfishly.

Letter XCV On Basic Principles
As Seneca observes, “the credit lies not in the actual deed, but
in the way it is done.” “As our acts and our thoughts are, so
will our lives be.”
Seneca provides an example. “When people sit by the
bedsides of their sick friends, we honor their motives. But
when people do this to attain a legacy, they are like vultures
waiting for carrion. The same act may be either honorable
or shameful, the motive makes all the difference.”

The same act may be either honorable or shameful, the motive makes
all the difference.”
Many of the important decisions we face in our life, though they have a
moral component, are neither right nor wrong in themselves, but should
rather be judged by how the decisions are made, in the underlying
motive, such as, Should we divorce a cheating spouse? Should we place
an elderly parent in a nursing home?
Or, if we are an employer, What should we do when a long-time employee
starts slipping in his performance at work?

Letter CXIII –On the Vitality of the Soul
Seneca says, “Let each man convince himself of this
before all else – ‘I must be just without reward.’ And
that is not enough; let him convince himself also of this:
‘May I take pleasure in devoting myself of my own free will
to uphold this the noblest of virtues.’”

Seneca says, “Let all your thoughts
be turned as far as possible from
your personal interests. You need
not look about for the reward of a
just deed; a just deed in itself offers a
still greater return. Remember this,
it makes no difference how many
are aware of your righteousness. If
you wish your virtue to be
advertised, you are not striving for
virtue but for praise.”

Seneca continues, “Are you not willing to
be just even if you are not praised for
your justice? Nay, indeed often you will
be despised for your just behavior
rather than praised. If you are wise,
let ill repute, well won, be a delight.”

Likewise, Jesus in the Beatitudes warns us that we may be treated badly
by our neighbor.

The Beatitudes and the Semon on
the Mount reassure us,
“Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile
you and persecute you and utter all
kinds of evil against you falsely on
my account.

Seneca reminds us, nobody
inherits good before evil, evil
inclinations gets first hold on all of
us. “Learning virtue means
unlearning vice. We must free
ourselves from our faults with
courage, for once we attain it the
good can be an everlasting
possession; virtue is not
unlearned.” But since the weak
and diseased mind fears the virtue
that is unfamiliar, the first steps to
attaining steadfast virtue are
toilsome. “The mind must be
forced to make the first step, but
from then one the medicine is not
bitter.” Living a godly life brings
joy and happiness, “the draught of
philosophy is both wholesome
and pleasant.”

Letter LIX On Pleasure and Joy
Seneca tells us that “we Stoics believe that pleasure is a
vice.” Like the Church Fathers, Seneca reminds us that we
need to overcome many years past of bad habits with many
future years of living a godly life. “We are fettered and
weakened by many vices; we have wallowed in them for a
long time, and it is hard for us to be cleansed.”
Seneca asks, “Why does folly hold us with such an insistent
grasp? Primarily because we do not combat our vices
vigorously, we do not struggle towards salvation with all our
might, we do not trust and drink in the words of the wise
with open hearts,” we are not serious in struggling against
our vices, we do not strive to live a godly life.
Seneca then asks us, “But how much can a man learn in his
struggle against his vices, if the time he devotes to learning
is only the amount left over from his vices?”

“The wise man is never deprived of joy. This joy springs
only from the knowledge that you possess the virtues.”
If you seek pleasures of all types, “you must know you are
as far short of wisdom as you are short of joy.”

Some of Seneca’s sayings remind
us that he is indeed a wealthy
man, and also that his wealth is
often a curse, as when he says that
it is often the misfortune of the
wealthy man is “he believes men
to be his friends when he himself
is not a friend to them, and that he
deems his favors to be effective in
winning friends, although for
some men, the more they owe
you, the more they hate you. A
trifling debt makes a man your
debtor; a large debt makes a man
your enemy.”
“Money never made a man rich,
it always smites men with a
greater craving for
wealth.” “We are unequal at
birth, but are equal in death.”

Everybody who reads Seneca finds different treasures, as will you
every time you read his discourses. These are some nuggets of
wisdom that struck me when reading Seneca.

Seneca reminds us, “Nothing is shut off from
the sight of God. He is witness of our souls;
he comes into the very midst of our
thoughts.” We must be ever vigilant. “I shall
keep watching myself continually, I will adopt
the habit of reviewing each day.”
This reminds us of the verse from St Paul, “we
take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Seneca continues, “This is what makes us
wicked: that we do not look back on our
life. Our thoughts are devoted only to what
we are about to do. But yet our plans for the
future always depend on our past.”

Seneca warns us that lions and tigers can
never be tamed, they might lull you into
thinking they are like loving kittens, but
then the beast in them will go mad, and
they roar and pounce on their
master. “Vices are never genuinely
tamed.” Like lions and tigers, “it is easier
to stop vices in the beginning that to
control them when they gather force.” “We
are in love with our vices, we uphold
them and prefer to make excuses for them
rather than shake them off.”

NUGGETS OF WISDOM
Seneca advises, “Live among men as if God beheld
you; speak with God as if men were listening.”
Seneca observed, “Philosophy is both theoretic and
practical, it contemplates and at the same time
acts.” “Take refuge with philosophy, she will cherish
you in her bosom, and in her sanctuary you shall be
safe, or at least you will be safer than before.”
“We should toughen our minds, and remove them
far from the allurements of pleasure.”
Seneca says, “It is as foolish to fear death as to fear
old age; for death follows old age precisely as old
age follows youth.”

“The outcome of a mighty anger is madness,
and hence anger should be avoided, not merely
so we may escape excess, but so we may have
a healthy mind.”
A friend may love you, but not everyone who
loves you is your friend. Friendship is always
helpful, but sometimes love hurts. “Try to
perfect yourself so you may learn how to love.”
One famous Seneca aphorism, “It is not
important how long you live, but rather how
nobly you live. Often living nobly means you
cannot live long.”

Seneca writes in his letter on Conquering the
Conqueror, “Philosophy bestows this boon
upon us; it makes us joyful in the very sign of
death, strong and brave no matter in what
state the body may be, cheerful and never
failing though the body fail us.”
“A great accomplishment would be to depart
calmly when the inevitable hour arrives.” “It is
as foolish to fear death as to fear old age; for
death follows old age precisely as old age
follows youth. He who does not wish to die
cannot have wished to live.”

Seneca says, “Philosophy teaches us to worship that which is divine, to love that which is
human; philosophy has told us that with God lies dominion, and among men,
fellowship. This fellowship remained unspoiled for a long time, until avarice tore the
community asunder and became the cause of poverty, even among the wealthy, for men
cease to possess all things the moment they desire all things for their own.” Selfishness
ruins fellowship, selfishness splits communities, but selflessness binds men together.

We invite you to ponder our introductory video on Seneca with some background
information and many interesting observations on living the godly philosophical
life.

SOURCES
My blog includes footnotes for these quotations, you can also search for a phrase
using the WordPress search function.
The Stoic Six Pack includes the writings of Seneca and Epictetus, but their
translation of Marcus Aurelius I found unintelligible, so I used this translation.
These are also available free on the internet. The stoics were the self-help gurus
of the ancient world, their works are both fun and easy to read, as you can tell
from this video.
Professor Luke Timothy Johnson turned me on to reading the stoic philosophers,
we highly recommend these Great Courses lectures, they are not on the Great
Courses Plus.

We have already recorded videos for most of the Stoic and Cynic
philosophers, we plan to record additional videos on Rufus, Plutarch,
Cicero, and other stoics in 2021 and 2022.
PLEASE click on the link for our blog Seneca in the description below.
And please click on the links for our YouTube videos on the Stoic
philosophers, and other interesting videos that will broaden your
knowledge and improve your soul.

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quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
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footnote.
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