Seneca,

“From business, however, my dear Lucilius, it is easy to escape,
if only you will despise the rewards of business.”

That’s the crux of it, isn’t it?  It’s pretty easy to talk a good (and consistent) Stoic game, but do we walk the walk?  The modern student is rightly focused on handling impressions, on reading about logic and ethics, and social duties.  But does she spurn the indifferents which captivate the ἰδιώτης (untrained persons)?  Very rarely.

Half-way measures indeed.  Thank you for the letter, it is providing much food for thought today.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.