Seneca to Lucilius: 39, on healthy and unhealthy desires
According to Seneca, right at the beginning of his 39th letter to his friend Lucilius, we need both to study things in a sustained manner and to keep a handy breviarium, that is, a summary of the fundamental points. We learn by way of the first approach, and are reminded of what we know by the second. This is splendidly illustrated by the two works by Epictetus (well, actually, by his brilliant student, Arrian, based on Epictetus’ lectures): the Discourses, of which we have unfortunately lost four of the original eight volumes (together with a biography of Epictetus, also written by Arrian), are the meat that sustains our main course of study. The Enchiridion, or Manual, is the little thing we carry with us as a refresher always at hand. And what sort of things should we be reminded of, according to Seneca?
“It is a fortunate person who directs [his] energy toward the good. He will place himself outside the jurisdiction of fortune: he will moderate prosperity, minimize adversity, and scorn those things that others admire.” (XXXIX.3)
“The good,” for Stoics, consists in arriving at sound judgments, so that we may attempt to act in a right manner. Those judgments and…
