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THE BIG IDEAS Letters from a Stoic

Do You Like Yourself? BY SENECA · PENGUIN CLASSICS © 1969 · 256 PAGES
Say “Yes!”! :)

A Disposition to Good
Create it!

Focus
Everywhere & nowhere. “A good character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness.”

Hello, God! ~ Seneca from Letters from a Stoic

She’s inside you!
Stoicism is one of my favorite philosophies. What we know of this classic Hellenistic philosophy
Your Ideal State is based on the texts created by its three primary sages: Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca.
What’s your purpose?

The Troubled Ones In this Note, we’re gonna take a quick look at Seneca: a statesman, Stoic philosopher,
Don’t feel it. :) contemporary of Jesus, and tutor to the Roman Emperor Nero (who must not have liked
Philosophy’s Power Seneca’s Stoic principles too much because he eventually had him killed… either that or there
‘tis big! may have been some political issues going on, eh? :).
A Path to Salvation Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic is packed full of Big Ideas I think you’ll enjoy! First, let’s take a
Don’t feel it. :)
quick look at his life and philosophy then we’ll jump in.
On Death
Rehearse it. Life

The Play of Life The reliability of the details of Seneca’s early life are shaky at best, but he was believed to be born
Good vs. long.
in Cordoba, then the most prominent city in Spain (Hispania), at about the same time as Jesus
Pleasures (between 4 and 1 BCE). Seneca was a statesman and a philosopher and is widely known for his
... and punishments.
skilled essays and, in fact, is recognized by many as the founder of the Essay. In 49 CE, Seneca
Harshness became the tutor to the 12-year old boy who would become the emperor Nero. For eight years, he
Properly employed.
acted as Nero’s unofficial chief minister before Nero compelled him to commit suicide after the
Dare Ya! discovery of a plot that may have elevated him to the throne as emperor.
Just do it!!!

QUICK INTRO TO STOICISM

The modern word “stoic” is derived from the calm demeanor of the stoic philosopher. The
philosophy itself, however, was named “stoicism” because its founder, Zeno (344-262 BCE),
taught in a well-known stoa: a colonnade or porch.

Stoicism is one of three prominent philosophies of the Hellenistic era (the other two: Cynicism
and Epicureanism). The philosophy was founded by Zeno about 300 BCE. (To put it in
“If you shape your life perspective, Plato founded the Academy in 385 BCE.) Although relatively obscure today,
according to nature, you Stoicism was the dominant philosophy of the Western world for several centuries. It lost its
will never be poor; if prominence when the emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the
according to people’s Roman Empire in the 4th Century.
opinions, you will never
be rich.” DO YOU LIKE YOURSELF?
~ Seneca “What difference does it make, after all, what your position in life is if you dislike it yourself?”

That’s hilarious. And so true, eh?

Isn’t it amazing how we can spend so much of our time doing everything we can to please
everyone around us and, at the end of the day, not even like ourselves. Eek!

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 So, Rule #1: Like who you are, what you do, etc. In short: Like yourself. :)
“For men in a state of
freedom had thatch for And, a *really* powerful mantra from Louise (founder of Hay House) Hay’s You Can Heal Your
Life (see Notes) that I say many times a day when looking into the mirror: “I love and accept
their shelter, while slavery
myself completely. I love and accept myself completely. I love and accept myself completely…”
dwells beneath marble
and gold.” Might sound a little wacky the first few times you say it but if you believe Louise (I definitely do),
your opinion of yourself was most powerfully shaped when you were a child looking into the eyes
~ Seneca
of a parent or teacher. To re-program yourself most positively, therefore, it’s important to look
yourself in the eye as you say your mantras (ideally, out loud).

(Give it a try. You’ll feel great. I promise. :)

CREATING A DISPOSITION TO GOOD

“You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition
to good.”

“Away with the world’s First: Let’s define “pertinacity.”

opinion of you—it’s always
It means: “Holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action” as in: “He worked with a
unsettled and divided.”
pertinacious resistance to interruptions.”
~ Seneca
So, we need to work with a stubbornness and strong discipline until our will power to do the
right thing leads to a DISPOSITION of doing the right thing. Make sense? I love that.

Seneca also says: “How much better to pursue a straight course and eventually reach that
destination where the things that are pleasant and the things that are honorable finally become,
for you, the same.”

(THAT’S AMAZING!!) And, this is a good time to remember Aristotle’s wisdom that: “We are
what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

FOCUS
“See what daily exercise “To be everywhere is to be nowhere.”

does for one.” Love the fact that was said by a guy who lived 2,000 years ago.
~ Seneca (Apparently, multi-tasking and over-working have been around for awhile. :)

There are obviously a lot of ways we can look at this: from the frenzied pace we tend to live—
running from one activity to another—to the constant juggling of projects in a never-ending loop
of trying to do way more than possible and/or necessary.

So, I’ll ask: Are you being “everywhere” and therefore “nowhere”?

How can you slow down and experience the Power of Now?

Another thought comes to mind: Ken Wilber, the modern Integral Philosopher (see Notes), talks
about the fact that we have what he calls “multiple lines of development” in our lives—from the
spiritual line of development to the intellectual, creative, physical, social, family, moral, etc.

Obviously, we want to push all of our lines forward but Wilber likes to say, “Don’t be a
“Straightforwardness and metaphyscial glutton.”
simplicity are in keeping
Don’t try to develop ALL your lines at once.
with  goodness.”
~ Seneca
Slow down, pick a line or two to work on and FOCUS.

In other words, “To be everywhere is to be nowhere.”

2 PhilosophersNotes | Letters from a Stoic

 “Everything hangs on HELLO, GOD!
one’s thinking.” “God is near you, is with you, is inside you.”
~ Seneca
Quit looking outside yourself for God.

* points to you *

God’s in there! :)

YOUR IDEAL STATE

“Man’s ideal state is realized when he has fulfilled the purpose for which he is born. And what
is it that reason demands of him? Something very easy—that he live in accordance with his
own  nature.”

Marcus Aurelius, another Stoic Philosopher (and Roman Emperor a hundred years after Nero),
said something very similar in his classic Meditations (see Notes): “Everything - a horse, a
“What’s the good of vine - is created for some duty… For what task, then, were you yourself created? A man’s true
dragging up sufferings delight is to do the things he was made for.”
which are over, of being
While Abraham Maslow says: “Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must
unhappy now just because write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they
you were then.” must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization… It
~ Seneca refers to man’s desire for self-fulfilment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually in
what he is potentially: to become everything one is capable of becoming.”

And Martin Seligman, the leader of the Positive Psychology movement and author of Authentic
Happiness (see Notes), tells us that we’ll live a happy life when we discover and consistently use
our “signature strengths.”

(If you haven’t taken his strengths assessment test yet, I HIGHLY recommend you join the
nearly 1 million people who have at AuthenticHappiness.com.)

So, for what were YOU made? For what purpose were you born?

Do you know?
“A man is as unhappy as
he has convinced himself If so, are you living it?
he is.” If not, is your primary purpose to FIGURE OUT your purpose? (Please say, “Yes!” :)
~ Seneca
We ALL have a purpose, a dharma, a call-it-what-you-want-but-we’re-here-to-fulfill-it! So, let’s
get on that!

THE TROUBLED ONES

“The worse a person is the less he feels it.”

That’s classic. And so TRUE! (You may have noticed. :)

Just remember this thought from Seneca the next time you’re dealing with someone who’s
struggling.

“There is nothing the wise THE PHILOSOPHER’S POWER

man does reluctantly.” “Philosophy’s power to blunt all the blows of circumstance is beyond belief.”
~ Seneca
“The philosopher: he alone knows how to live for himself. He is the one, in fact, who knows the
fundamental thing: how to live.”

“Philosophy” and “Philosophers” have such a bad rap these days.

PhilosophersNotes | Letters from a Stoic 3

 Somehow, it got away from its Greek roots and has become, for the most part, a topic reserved
“Philosophy takes as her
for (ahem) boring, crusty old (and dead) white guys.
aim the state of happiness…
Me thinks the classic Greeks and the Romans would have been disappointed.
she shows us what are real
and what are only apparent Did you know the word “philosopher” literally means “lover of wisdom”—where wisdom means
evils. She strips men’s “knowledge of life”?!
minds of empty thinking, Therefore, a “philosopher” is someone who is IN LOVE with learning how to live. NOT a
bestows a greatness that Professor at a University droning on about pedantic stuff that has no recognizable practical
is solid and administers a application.
check to greatness where
(I confess that I must still be getting over my “B” in my Classic Western Philosophy class
it is puffed up and all an
at UCLA, but isn’t it remarkable how boring they can make Philosophy?!? And, even more
empty show; she sees that
frightening, how far from practical… :)
we are left no doubt about
But, alas, back to Seneca.
the difference between
what is great and what You ask, what is the purpose of Philosophy? He answers: “Shall I tell you what philosophy holds
is bloated.” out to humanity? Counsel… You are called in to help the unhappy.”

~ Seneca And how much of your time should you invest in studying Philosophy? Seneca advises: “When
some state or other offered Alexander a part of its territory and half of all its property he told
them that ‘he hadn’t come to Asia with the intention of accepting whatever they cared to give
him, but of letting them keep whatever he chose to leave them.’ Philosophy, likewise, tells all
“The wise man then
other occupations: ‘It’s not my intention to accept whatever time is leftover from you; you shall
followed a simple way
have, instead, what I reject.’ Give your whole mind to her.”
of life—which is hardly
surprising when you So, let’s give all of our minds and hearts to the pursuit of wisdom and remember Philosophy’s

consider how even in this power to blunt the blows of circumstance! :)

modern age he seeks to be

as little encumbered as he
A PATH TO SALVATION
possibly can.” “A consciousness of wrongdoing is the first step to salvation… you have to catch yourself doing it

~ Seneca
before you can correct it.”

Obvious but often overlooked truth: To change a behavior, first we need to catch ourselves doing it!

I’ve been practicing removing certain things from my consciousness/thoughts/words/behaviors.

Stuff like criticism (of others and myself), gossip, complaining, comparing, impatience, holding
my breath, getting frustrated and other stuff that isn’t in line with my Highest Self.

Now, I’ve pretty much always known these things needed to go, but it wasn’t until I made it a
practice to systematically remove them (and remind myself of the fact in my daily morning
“There is about wisdom a journaling) that I really had the CONSCIOUSNESS of wrongdoing.
nobility and magnificence in
Once I started writing down what I call “My NO’s!” every morning, I started SEEING all the
the fact that she doesn’t
times I’d start criticizing or gossiping or getting impatient or whatever. It is this ability to
just fall to a person’s lot,
CATCH ourselves doing it that gives us the power to correct it.
that each man owes her to
So… what about you?!?
his own efforts, that one
doesn’t go to anyone other What “wrongdoing” do YOU need to start catching yourself doing so you can correct it?
than oneself to find her.”
(And what’re you waiting for?!? Get on that!! :)
~ Seneca

ON DEATH
“You want to live—but do you know how to live? You are scared of dying—and, tell me, is the
kind of life you lead really any different from being dead?”

Wow. That puts it in perspective.

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 Seneca dedicates quite a bit of energy to discussing death and the importance of honoring the
“We should live as if we
fact that we’re ALL gonna die (sorry to break that to you :) so we might as well get clear on it
were in public view, and (and in his words “rehearse” it!) so we can fully LIVE!
think, too, as if someone
could peer into the inmost THE PLAY OF LIFE
recesses of our hearts—
“As it is with a play, so it is with life—what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good
which someone can!”
it is.”
~ Seneca
Ah! How great is that?!

Do you go to a play for how LONG it is going to last or HOW GOOD IT IS?!?

Same with our lives!!! Let’s quit worrying just how long it’s gonna be and focus on how well we
play our part, shall we?!? :)

And remember: “Every day, therefore, should be regulated as if it were the one that brings up the
“Rehearse death. To say
rear, the one that rounds out and completes our lives.”
this is to tell a person to
rehearse his freedom. A
person who has learned
PLEASURES AND PUNISHMENTS
how to die has unlearned “So called pleasures, when they go beyond a certain limit, are but punishments.”
how to be a slave. He Deeply influenced by the classic Greek philosophers like Aristotle, the Stoics were/are all about
is above, or at any rate, self-control, self-mastery and virtuous living.
beyond the reach of, all
Reminds me of Aristotle’s “Virtuous Mean” from The Nicomachean Ethics:
political powers.”
“For both excessive and insufficient exercise destroy one’s strength, and both eating and
~ Seneca
drinking too much or too little destroy health, whereas the right quantity produces, increases
or preserves it. So it is the same with temperance, courage and the other virtues… This much
then, is clear: in all our conduct it is the mean that is to be commended.”

Aristotle establishes the fact that virtue lies between the vice of excess and the vice of deficiency.
And Seneca reminds us here that “so-called pleasures,” when they go past a certain point,
become punishments.
“Just where death is
Powerful stuff.
expecting you is something
we cannot know; so, Spotlight’s back on you: What PLEASURES in your life are you taking so far that they’ve become
for your part, expect PUNISHMENTS? It could be drinking a bit too much, watching a bit too much TV (that would
him everywhere.” be just past any, btw… just kidding… mostlee :), eating too much, spending too much time
online, whatever.
~ Seneca
What is it for you? And how can you get back to the virtuous mean?

[And remember this the next time you go out hitting the bars: “Drunkenness is nothing but a
self-induced state of insanity.”]

HARSHNESS PROPERLY EMPLOYED

“Be harsh with yourself at times.”
“Death: There’s nothing bad
about it at all except the Again, Stoics were pretty bad-ass peeps.
thing that comes before it— They weren’t messing around with living virtuously! And, in this case, we’ve got Seneca reminding
the fear of it.” us that, AT TIMES, we need to be harsh with ourselves.
~ Seneca
This does NOT mean, of course, that we need to go around like that albino monk from The da
Vinci Code mutilating ourselves (ew). But it DOES mean that, at times, we need to give ourselves
a Zen stick to the head and wake up from the bad habits that are dragging us down.

PhilosophersNotes | Letters from a Stoic 5

 As with the virtuous mean chat above, there’s a virtuous mean here. TOO MUCH harshness is
“Life is never incomplete if
destructive—we’ll develop a sense of self-loathing that’s a weakness. Aristotle would consider it
it is an honorable one. At a vice of excess. TOO LITTLE harshness on the other hand, and we run the risk of being a self-
whatever point you leave contented (and usually self-righteous) ass. That would be a vice of deficiency.
life, if you leave it in the
The virtuous mean rests right there in the middle path—where we’re appropriately correcting
right way, it is whole.”
our weaknesses WITHOUT self-criticism per se, just a nice firm look in the eye and a smile as
“Refuse to let the thought
we embody more and more of our ideals while burning out, as Rumi would say, the dross that
of death bother you:
clouds the silver.
nothing is grim when we
Rumi: “This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross.
have escaped that fear.”
This testing purifies the gold by boiling the scum away.”
~ Seneca

DARE YA!
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things
are difficult.”

Wow. Well, that pretty much solves it.

What dream of yours have you created a big ol’ story around? You know, the one that says your
dream is too hard to bring to life. That it’s Impossible! Riiiiiiiiight.

REMEMBER! “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not
dare that things are difficult.”

So, what is it for you?

Dare ya to do it. :)

Brian Johnson,
Chief Philosopher

If you liked this Note, About the Author of “Letters from a Stoic”
you’ll probably like… SENECA
The reliability of the details of Seneca’s early life are shaky at best, but he
Meditations
was believed to be born in Cordoba, then the most prominent city in Spain
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Hispania), at about the same time as Jesus (between 4 and 1 BCE). Seneca was
The Enchiridion a statesman and a philosopher and is widely known for his skilled essays and, in
fact, is recognized by many as the founder of the Essay. In 49 CE, Seneca became
the tutor to the 12-year old boy who would become the emperor Nero. For eight
years, he acted as Nero’s unofficial chief minister before Nero compelled him to
commit suicide after the discovery of a plot that may have elevated him to the
throne as emperor.

About the Author of This Note

BRIAN JOHNSON

Brian Johnson is a lover of wisdom (aka a “Philosopher”) and a passionate

student of life who’s committed to inspiring and empowering millions of people
to live their greatest lives as he studies, embodies and shares the universal truths
of optimal living. He harts his job.

6 PhilosophersNotes | Letters from a Stoic