Just a Reminder
no man's good by accident...
This is the final letter Seneca wrote to Lucilius and it’s packed with stoic ideas like:
Nothing can actually happen to you. It happens. Then you choose whether to let it irritate you or become a thing at all.
Become accustomed to what you need, not what you have. Fortune could take everything at a moment’s notice.
Stay away from people who spread vices. By spending time with greedy, rude, unhappy people you will become like them.
But no idea is as great or as necessary as his last one. It’s one of his final lines to his friend Lucilius. It’s not complicated, it’s painfully simple. It’s a reminder we all need.
“No man’s good by accident. Virtue has to be learnt.” (Seneca’s Letters to Lucilius, CXXIII)
It’s easy to meet a virtuous man, label him a great man and move on. But he’s not a GREAT man. He’s just… a man. He’s a man who has learnt virtue. A man who learnt virtue and chooses to live accordingly.
No matter how great a man is, he’s fundamentally no different from you and me. He only makes better choices. But you could at once decide to make better choices and be just as good as him.
The only steps a man can take to become virtuous are at any time available to him:
Learn Virtue
Practice Virtue
Figure out what virtue means to you. Then live by that each day. Every chance you get.
Let virtue become your North Star, avoid compromise, and suddenly people will label you a great man just as easily.
“No man’s good by accident. Virtue has to be learnt.”
Question of The Day
Who is a great man you look up to? What makes him great? What’s stopping you from being the same way?
Your Biggest Fan,
Noah “BigNerd” Sochaczevski
PS. Did you know the Romans used to use olive oil as sunscreen? Seneca made a brief mention of cream to protect from the sun so I did some research. Other ancient civilizations used rice bran pastes, animal fat, jasmine and lupine.
PPS. I’ve been reading and writing preparing for Sapiens and I think February is going to be the best month yet. I like the new format I’m using and there’s so much fun, interesting content to learn. I’m really excited! If you know anybody interested in history, I’d definitely recommend getting them signed up before February starts. Just send them a link to any email and they’ll be prompted to sign up.