Letters from a Stoic
Letters from a Stoic:
Your highlights:True wisdom is knowing how to live a simple life in accordance with nature.
Nature’s plan for us is to live simply, to abstain from worldly pleasures and the desires that drive us to accumulate vast fortunes, gorge ourselves on food and desperately seek fame and fortune. Wisdom allows us to see that. Living in accordance with nature also means confronting the fears that emerge when we look upon the natural cycle of life, in which loss and death are inevitable.
29 July, 2019 11:57 Share
Philosophy is the key that unlocks wisdom and happiness.
Or consider geometry. It lets us measure everything from the distance between two stars to the size of our estates. But it offers no insight into why a man who has lost every acre of his estate can still smile in the face of the world. If you want to measure a soul, you’ll need to turn to philosophy.
29 July, 2019 12:02 Share
What is philosophy? Simply put, it’s the study of truth in the world that surrounds us and the world of the divine; in other words, philosophy is the key to the good life and virtuous living.
29 July, 2019 12:03 Share
Don’t just study any old way, do it properly!
Casually perusing lots of different authors will only give you a superficial understanding of their ideas. Think of it like dashing around the world and never staying very long in any one place. You’ll return home with hundreds of fleeting impressions and a ton of new acquaintances – but very few true friends.
29 July, 2019 12:03 Share
Simply repeating what Plato or Zeno have to say on a given topic might be a good way for children to learn, but it’s not enough for adults. Mature learning is active – you gain your own knowledge. Great philosophers can help you with this, but in the end, you’ll have to take leave of them as well, as you forge your own path. This means comparing their insights and drawing your own conclusions. Once you start doing that, you’re already contributing to philosophical knowledge about the world.
29 July, 2019 12:04 Share
About the book:
Written around 65 CE and addressed to a Roman official stationed in Sicily by the name of Lucilius, Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic are an exploration of the good life. Drawing on the rich tradition of stoic philosophical thought, Seneca advocates simple living in harmony with nature, avoidance of temptations and vice and the continuous honing of the mind through the study of philosophy. That, Seneca argued, was the path to true happiness.
About the author:
The Roman stoic Seneca (ca. 4 BCE – 65 CE) was a philosopher, dramatist and statesman known for his many essays and letters on philosophical topics, as well as a number of dramatic tragedies. Seneca was sentenced to death by his own hand after he was accused of participating in a plot to assassinate the Roman emperor Nero, the most well known of his former pupils.
Blinkist takes outstanding nonfiction books and distills their key insights into made-for-mobile book summaries that you can read in just 15 minutes. Learn something new every day - on your smartphone, tablet or PC.
blinkist.com