Who Was He?
We’re about to read a bunch of letters that Seneca wrote to his friend Lucilius. If you’re a normal person, you should be asking two questions - Who? Why?
Who was Seneca
Seneca was a famous thinker and writer from ancient Rome, living around 2,000 years ago. He was a big deal in Stoic philosophy, which is all about being good, strong, and in control of your emotions. Seneca worked close with Emperor Nero and was a senator, but things went bad and he had to end his own life. He wrote plays and lots of smart essays that people still read today. Seneca's ideas and way of writing about life, being good, and dealing with tough times have made him really famous.
Why are we reading his letters
His letters are super important for a few reasons. First, they make the tough ideas of Stoic philosophy easy to get for everyone. He wrote these letters to his friend, talking about all sorts of life advice and how to be a good person. They also tell us a lot about what life was like in ancient Rome, which is really cool for learning history. Plus, Seneca was a great writer. His letters aren't just smart; they're fun to read too. That's why, even after hundreds of years, people still love reading Seneca's letters.
Tomorrow, we’re diving into his first letter. For tonight, I’ll leave you with a line by Seneca that I repeat to myself often:
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality”
I’ve wasted hundreds, if not thousands of hours of my life worrying about the future or regretting the past. Since reading this line, I try to remind myself as much as possible that the pain of these thoughts are self-inflicted. That with will alone I can end my mental suffering.
Question of The Day
Have you heard of Seneca before today? I’m curious, please answer below
Your Friend,
Noah “Big Nerd” Sochaczevski