Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 4 f.Kr-65 e.Kr.
Rådgiver til Nero, en av de mest grusomme keiserne i romersk historie.
Ble beordret til å ta selvmord for å konspirere et komplott mot Nero, noe som mye tyder på ikke var tilfelle.
Han regnes som en av de store filosofene innen Stoisme. Seneca's "On the Shortness of life" m.m. har både filosofi og litterær tyngde til å inspirere den dag i dag..
Rådgiver til Nero, en av de mest grusomme keiserne i romersk historie.
Ble beordret til å ta selvmord for å konspirere et komplott mot Nero, noe som mye tyder på ikke var tilfelle.
Han regnes som en av de store filosofene innen Stoisme. Seneca's "On the Shortness of life" m.m. har både filosofi og litterær tyngde til å inspirere den dag i dag..
Nedenfor har jeg trukket ut tekst som faller meg nærmest til brystet, fra "On the Shortness of life", "Consolation to Helvia" og "Tranquillity of Mind".
(tot 107sider)
ON THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE: Life is long if you know how to use it..
(..)You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire.
(..)How stupid to forget our mortality, and put off sensible plans to our fiftieth and sixtieth, aiming to begin life from a point at which few have arrived!
(..)They lose the day in waiting for the night, and the night in fearing the dawn.
(..)New preoccupations take the place of the old, hope excites more hope and ambition more ambition. They do not look for an end to their misery, but simply change the reason for it.
CONSOLATION TO HELVIA
(..)Everlasting misfortune does have one blessing, that it ends up by toughening those whom it constantly afflicts.
(..)It was nature's intention that there should be no need of great equipment for a good life: every individual can make himself happy.
(..) She falls heavily on those to whom she is unexpected; the man who is always expecting her easily withstands her.
(..) No man has been shattered by the blows of Fortune unless he was first deceived by her favours.
(..) So I have never believed that there was any genuine good in the things which everyone prays for; what is more, I have found them empty and daubed with showy and deceptive colours, with nothing inside to match their appearance.
(..) The body's needs are few: it wants to be free from cold, to banish hunger and thirst with nourishment; if we long for anything more we are exerting ourselves to serve our vices, not our needs.
(..) but if a man stirs himself to face the worst of disasters and defeats the evils which overwhelm others, then he wears those very sorrows like a sacred badge. For we are naturally disposed to admire more than anything else the man who shows fortitude in adversity.
(..)Everlasting misfortune does have one blessing, that it ends up by toughening those whom it constantly afflicts.
(..)It was nature's intention that there should be no need of great equipment for a good life: every individual can make himself happy.
(..) She falls heavily on those to whom she is unexpected; the man who is always expecting her easily withstands her.
(..) No man has been shattered by the blows of Fortune unless he was first deceived by her favours.
(..) So I have never believed that there was any genuine good in the things which everyone prays for; what is more, I have found them empty and daubed with showy and deceptive colours, with nothing inside to match their appearance.
(..) The body's needs are few: it wants to be free from cold, to banish hunger and thirst with nourishment; if we long for anything more we are exerting ourselves to serve our vices, not our needs.
(..) but if a man stirs himself to face the worst of disasters and defeats the evils which overwhelm others, then he wears those very sorrows like a sacred badge. For we are naturally disposed to admire more than anything else the man who shows fortitude in adversity.
ON TRANQUILLITY OF MIND
(..) ..this steady firmness of mind.. We are, therefore seeking how the mind can follow a smooth and steady course, well disposed to itself, happily regarding its own condition and with no interruption to this pleasure, but remaining in a state of peace with no ups and downs: that will be tranquillity.
(..) dissatisfaction with oneself.
This arises from mental instability and from fearful and unfulfilled desires, when men do not dare or do not achieve all they long for, and all they grasp at is hope: they are always unbalanced and fickle,
an inevitable consequence of living in suspense.
(..) The best course, as Athenodorus says, would be to busy oneself in the practical activity of political involvement and civic duties.(..) For when one intends to make himself useful to his fellow-citizens and fellow- men, he is at the same time getting practice and doing good if he throws himself heart and soul into the duty of looking after both the community and the individual.
(..) If you apply yourself to study you will avoid all boredom with life, you will not long for night because you are sick of daylight, you will be neither a burden to yourself nor useless to others, you will attract many to become your friends and the finest people will flock about you.
(..) You must set your hands to tasks which you can finish or at least hope to finish, and avoid those which get bigger as you proceed and do not cease where you had intended.
(..) there is only a brief hour between sitting on a throne and kneeling to another. Know, then, that every condition can change, and whatever happens to anyone can happen to you too.
(..) So let all your activity be directed to some object, let it have some end in view. It is not industry that makes men restless, but false impressions of things drive them mad.
(..) However, the two things must be mingled and varied, solitude and joining a crowd: the one will make us long for people and the other for ourselves, and each will be a remedy for the other; solitude will cure our distaste for a crowd, and a crowd will cure our boredom with solitude.
(..) Our minds must relax: they will rise better and keener after a rest.
(..) Occasionally we should even come to the point of intoxication, sinking into drink but not being totally flooded by it; for it does wash away cares, and stirs the mind to its depths, and heals sorrow just as it heals certain diseases.
(..) ..this steady firmness of mind.. We are, therefore seeking how the mind can follow a smooth and steady course, well disposed to itself, happily regarding its own condition and with no interruption to this pleasure, but remaining in a state of peace with no ups and downs: that will be tranquillity.
(..) dissatisfaction with oneself.
This arises from mental instability and from fearful and unfulfilled desires, when men do not dare or do not achieve all they long for, and all they grasp at is hope: they are always unbalanced and fickle,
an inevitable consequence of living in suspense.
(..) The best course, as Athenodorus says, would be to busy oneself in the practical activity of political involvement and civic duties.(..) For when one intends to make himself useful to his fellow-citizens and fellow- men, he is at the same time getting practice and doing good if he throws himself heart and soul into the duty of looking after both the community and the individual.
(..) If you apply yourself to study you will avoid all boredom with life, you will not long for night because you are sick of daylight, you will be neither a burden to yourself nor useless to others, you will attract many to become your friends and the finest people will flock about you.
(..) You must set your hands to tasks which you can finish or at least hope to finish, and avoid those which get bigger as you proceed and do not cease where you had intended.
(..) there is only a brief hour between sitting on a throne and kneeling to another. Know, then, that every condition can change, and whatever happens to anyone can happen to you too.
(..) So let all your activity be directed to some object, let it have some end in view. It is not industry that makes men restless, but false impressions of things drive them mad.
(..) However, the two things must be mingled and varied, solitude and joining a crowd: the one will make us long for people and the other for ourselves, and each will be a remedy for the other; solitude will cure our distaste for a crowd, and a crowd will cure our boredom with solitude.
(..) Our minds must relax: they will rise better and keener after a rest.
(..) Occasionally we should even come to the point of intoxication, sinking into drink but not being totally flooded by it; for it does wash away cares, and stirs the mind to its depths, and heals sorrow just as it heals certain diseases.
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