stoa0255

Works (10)

• 1
  stoa004 prose

  Life is not short — we waste it. Seneca's most famous essay argues that the problem is not how long we live but how badly we spend the time we have. A...

  ~6,400 words
• 2
  stoa006 prose

  A letter of consolation to Seneca's mother Helvia, written from exile in Corsica. Seneca argues that his banishment should not grieve her — poverty, d...

  ~7,000 words
• 3
  stoa007 prose

  A consolation for Marcia, who has mourned her son for three years. Seneca gently argues that grief must have limits — and that the dead, if they are a...

  ~8,700 words
• 4
  stoa008 prose

  A consolation for the freedman Polybius, written from exile. Seneca consoles him for the loss of his brother while simultaneously flattering the Emper...

  ~5,800 words
• 5
  stoa009 prose

  An essay on Stoic resilience. Seneca argues that the wise man cannot be harmed by insults, losses, or injuries — because nothing external can touch th...

  ~5,400 words
• 6
  stoa010 prose

  Three books on anger — its nature, its causes, and its cure. Seneca's most systematic moral work, full of horrifying examples of rage in action and pr...

  3 books
  ~23,200 words
• 7
  stoa011 prose

  A fragment of an essay on leisure and contemplation. Seneca argues that withdrawal from public life can be justified — even for a Stoic — when the sta...

  ~2,000 words
• 8
  stoa012 prose

  Why do bad things happen to good people? Seneca's answer: they don't. What looks like misfortune is training — the gods test those they love, as a fat...

  ~4,300 words
• 9
  stoa013 prose

  Seneca's friend Serenus confesses that he cannot achieve peace of mind — he is pulled between ambition and simplicity, indulgence and discipline. Sene...

  ~7,800 words
• 10
  stoa014 prose

  What is the happy life? Seneca argues — against the Epicureans — that it is a life of virtue, not pleasure. But virtue is not grim: the wise man enjoy...

  ~7,500 words