How To Be Consistent! Letter 2 of 124: On Discursiveness in Reading. Seneca’s Moral Letters to Lucilius. (Letters from a Stoic)
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC-AD 65), known as Seneca the Younger is a Roman Stoic Philosopher who is known for a lot of things among them is being the advisor to Emperor Nero and traveling Southern Italy while writing the “Moral Letters to Lucilius”, which is a series of 124 letters on daily life and Stoicism.
Stoicism: according to the Cambridge dictionary is defined as “The quality of experiencing pain or trouble without complaining or showing your emotions”
Many great business leaders including the modern day tech leaders are known to practice the Stoic Philosophy which is an ancient Greek system on how to approach life.
I have extracted 5–6 lessons from Letter 2. The title of this letter is, “On Discursiveness in Reading”, however, the main message in this letter is about consistency and commitment.
“You do not run hither and thither and distract yourself by changing your abode; for such restlessness is the sign of a disordered spirit.” I have had challenges with the myself because there is so much that’s marketed to us and so many options of things you can do. Seneca is making the point of being ordered and have a life focus.
“The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.” Learning to be by yourself and learning to be content in your own thoughts is a challenge, but it is important. A lot of people out there need to be around other people, they have not learned to be content by themselves leaving them to be restless and impulsive. And even if we are around people, we still have the impulse to want to check our phone and see what others are doing. Something as simple as leaving our phone and walking in a park can make a huge difference in our well being.
“Be careful, however, lest this reading of many authors and books of every sort may tend to make you discursive and unsteady. You must linger among a limited number of master thinkers, and digest their works, if you would derive ideas which shall win firm hold in your mind, everywhere means nowhere.” In this day and age we have so many “master thinkers”, for example you can look at a Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos and look up to them because they’re these tech billionaires. You can also look at Pablo Picasso as a great artist who focused on his creative side. You can look at an individual in your community who attained a respectable degree with a respectable job.
Specific subject matters also have multiple “master thinkers”, for example on the topic of money, you will have some say you should save, some say you should invest and others say you should take risks. The point is that we have so many options and it is important to choose a few master thinkers that align with your values, apply their principles while adding your own style in the mix.
“When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends. And the same thing must hold true of men who seek intimate acquaintance with no single author, but visit them all in a hasty and hurried manner.” “A plant which is often moved can never grow strong.” “Reading of many books is a distraction.” I have traveled for a long period of time and met a lot of good people who have become acquaintances, like the 800 extra Facebook friends that you’re not close with but don’t want to let go of that connection. I do not 100% agree with Seneca on this because you can make great friends with similar values during your travels. This is where social media is good because you can keep in touch and strengthen the connection. The lesson in Seneca’s statement is that it’s good to have a strong base/core to stick with and build on.
“I tell you that it is the sign of an overnice appetite to toy with many dishes.” “When you crave a change, fall back upon those whom you read before.” “Each day acquire something that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes as well; and after you have run over many thoughts, select one to be thoroughly digested that day.” The lesson from Seneca is to stick with one idea and improve on it. This reminds me of an interview I watched with a high executive from McDonald’s and he was asked something along the lines of, “How will McDonald’s adapt to the modern day health movement?”, the executive replied with a statement along the line of “No matter what happens, we will always be a hamburger company.” No matter how you feel about McDonald’s, part of the reason for it’s consistent results is because it knows it’s core and it builds on it. It’s similar to Apple, an iPhone is simply an improvement on the personal computer which is their core product. Options are good, but building on a strong core idea is greater.
Epicurus: “Contented poverty is an honorable estate.” Indeed, if it be contented, it is not poverty at all. It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” There is a difference between wanting more and craving growth. The key idea here is to expect more from ourselves, rather than expecting more things.
