"The thrust and nature of the soul of man have two aspects. The first lies in the appetite ... which pulls a man in different directions; and the second is in the reason, which teaches and expounds what we are to do, and what to avoid. Accordingly the reason commands, and the appetite obeys. Our … Continue reading Cicero on decorum
Category: philosophy
John Locke: how to think
From Locke's Of the Conduct of the Understanding (published 1706). “11. Indifferency.— First, he must not be in love with any opinion, or wish it to be true till he knows it to be so; and then he will not need to wish it; for nothing that is false can deserve our good wishes, nor … Continue reading John Locke: how to think
Seneca to Lucilius on grief
"Grief like yours has this among other evils: it is not only useless, but thankless. Has it then all been for nothing that you have had such a friend? During so many years, amid such close associations, after such intimate communion of personal interests, has nothing been accomplished? Do you bury friendship along with a … Continue reading Seneca to Lucilius on grief
Epicurus on death
"Accustom yourself also to think death a matter with which we are not at all concerned, since all good and all evil is in sensation, and since death is only the privation of sensation. On which account, the correct knowledge of the fact that death is no concern of ours, makes the mortality of life … Continue reading Epicurus on death
Hume on the tendency of religion to ascetic morality
"The duties, which a man performs as a friend or parent, seem merely owing to his benefactor or children; nor can he be wanting to these duties, without breaking through all the ties of nature and morality. A strong inclination may prompt him to the performance: A sentiment of order and moral obligation joins its … Continue reading Hume on the tendency of religion to ascetic morality
Socratic temperance 2
Socrates: "And when real philosophers consider all these things, will they not be led to make a reflection which they will express in words something like the following? ‘Have we not found,’ they will say, ‘a path of thought which seems to bring us and our argument to the conclusion, that while we are in … Continue reading Socratic temperance 2
Seneca on the Shortness of Life
The portion of life allotted to us, if rightly arranged, is sufficient. “We do not have a very short time assigned to us, but we lose a great deal of it: life is long enough to carry out the most important projects: we have an ample portion, if we do but arrange the whole of … Continue reading Seneca on the Shortness of Life
Socratic temperance
Socrates: "he who desires to be happy must pursue and practise temperance and run away from intemperance as fast as his legs will carry him: he had better order his life so as not to need punishment; but if either he or any of his friends, whether private individual or city, are in need of … Continue reading Socratic temperance
Seneca to Lucilius on the length and quality of life
"We should strive, not to live long, but to live rightly; for to achieve long life you have need of Fate only, but for right living you need the soul. A life is really long if it is a full life; but fulness is not attained until the soul has rendered to itself its proper … Continue reading Seneca to Lucilius on the length and quality of life
Despise death; flee not from life.
From Seneca's twenty-fourth letter to Lucilius. "You write me that you are anxious about the result of a lawsuit, with which an angry opponent is threatening you; and you expect me to advise you to picture to yourself a happier issue, and to rest in the allurements of hope. Why, indeed, is it necessary to … Continue reading Despise death; flee not from life.
Notes in the Margins of the Days 