Why Good Men Suffer
The pathway to greatness
Excellence withers without an adversary
— Seneca
You ask why good men suffer such unfortunate catastrophes? You ask why they carry such an ill fate? You ask why them and not the others?
Well, Let me tell you what God might see through his eyes. When you see good men going through hardship, climbing steep roads while bad men, on the other hand, enjoy themselves surrounded by pleasures and comforts, do not get somber. The latter is gradually becoming dull while the former gets forged into a much stronger being.
A trainer doesn’t pamper his trainee. He tests him, hardens him, and makes him ready to face his own ordeals. He does this not because of some hatred towards his trainee, but rather in compassion. A good man, if you truly are, should not be afraid to face hardships and difficulties, or complain of endurance.
Amor Fati. Fall in love with your fate, and know that beyond your mortal sight, there lies a greater destiny for you. In the movie “the last samurai” when Katsumoto, the samurai leader, asks our protagonist whether he believed that a man can change his destiny? To this Nathan replies: I think a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed.
You shouldn’t complain about your fate; whatever happens, you should take it in good part, and turn it to a good end; it is not what you endure that matters, but how you endure it.
And yet you still ask “Why do Good Men Suffer?”
Just as the vast number of rivers, all the rain that falls in showers from above, and the massive volume of mineral springs do not alter the taste of the sea, do not even moderate it, so adversity’s onslaughts are powerless to affect the spirit of a brave man: it remains unshaken and makes all events assume its own colour; for it is stronger than all external forces.
— Seneca
Don’t be insensible to those calamities but rather conquer them. Conquer your fear, conquer your pain, conquer your destiny. Regard all adversity as exercises, training you to become who you were always meant to be.
Great men must struggle with calamities in order to overcome it. Greatness isn’t a birthright but the overcoming of hardships and achievements of a lifetime.
There is no scarcity of good fortune to be found in the possession of common men and even to those of inferior talent, but only a great man is able to triumph over the disasters and terrors that afflict the entire mortal race.
disaster is the opportunity for true worth.
The Irony of Misfortune
The things you call hardships, that you call adversities and detestable, actually are beneficial to the very person they happen to, and also to the whole human race. If you have never been through any difficult circumstances, you never had the chance to show your true strength.
Ironically, you are unfortunate because you have never been unfortunate.
If you pass through life with no calamities to face; no one will know what you were capable of, not even you yourself. In order to gain self-knowledge, you must go through ordeals. Only through struggles do you learn what your capabilities are.
Nothing seems to me more unhappy than the man who has no experience of adversity. For he has not been allowed to put himself to the test.
— Seneca
If you are meant for higher excellence, then you must be willing to face great disasters. For in those disastrous times, you get the chance to perform at your peak. Become the person to whom even the gods bow.
How can I know with what strength of mind you would face poverty, if you abound in wealth? How can I know what fortitude you would show in the face of disgrace, dishonour, and the hatred of the people, if you grow old to the sound of cheers, if you attract an irresistible popularity that falls to you from a certain disposition of men’s minds? How do I know how calmly you will bear the loss of children, if you see all the ones you have fathered?
— Seneca
Every man must suffer his misfortunes someday. You are wrong if you think anyone has been spared from their inevitable disasters. The man who has known happiness for many years will receive his share of despair someday. Whoever seems to have been set free from this has only been granted a delay.
Don’t remain soft when those misfortunes hit you. Face them with all your heart. Your life has prepared you for this particular moment all along. Your fate has judged you as a worthy candidate for the calamity.
“Do not go gentle into that good night”
We must offer ourselves to misfortunes so that in struggling with her we may be hardened by her, and gradually we will be a match for her.
Why do they suffer certain hardships? The reason is so that they may teach others to endure them; they were born to set an example. Imagine, therefore, God saying: ‘What complaint can you make of me, you who have chosen the course of virtue? Other men I have surrounded with false blessings and have mocked their vacant minds, as it were, with a long, deceptive dream: I have adorned them with gold and silver and ivory, but inside there is nothing good. Those you regard as fortunate, could you only see them in their hearts, not as they meet the eye, are wretched, dirty, ugly, and, like the walls of their own homes, decorated only on the outside; such good fortune is not long-lasting or genuine: it is plasterwork, and thinly applied at that. So, as long as they may stand and show themselves as they would wish, they dazzle and deceive; when something happens to disrupt and uncover them, then all may see what depth of true ugliness their borrowed splendour concealed.
— Seneca
