We must learn what to do from someone who is already doing it
janniklindquist.substack.com
The picture below shows a 3D print of the so called “Pseudo-Seneca"-bust given to me by a friend. For centuries it was believed to show the aging Seneca around the period when he wrote his letters to Lucilius: on the run from Nero's goons, only eating fruit and only drinking water from natural springs to avoid getting poisoned - and entirely dedicated to writing his thoughts down for the benefit of many generations to come. We now know that the bust has no relation to Seneca whatsoever - but the power of presence is so strong and the features of the person depicted fits our impression of the man who wrote the letters so well that it is almost impossible to give up associating this bust with Seneca - as witnessed by the fact that countless editions of Seneca’s writings use a picture of that bust on the frontpage.
I can not count the number of times I have tried to convince other Seneca-fans that the bust is not a portrait of Seneca. Even so, the power of presence does it magic: I find myself talking to it - as if it was Seneca - every day!
"the living voice and conversation will do you more good than the text. You must come to witness the real thing, first because men trust their eyes more than their ears; next, because the approach through recommendations is long, but that of examples is short and effective. Cleanthes would not have reproduced Zeno’s thought if he had only heard him. He shared in Zeno’s life and saw his private actions, he watched him to see whether he lived according to his own code. Plato and Aristotle and the whole crowd of philosophers each following his different path derived more from Socrates’ behaviour than his words. It was not Epicurus’ teaching but his company that made Metrodorus and Hermarchus and Polyaenus into great men."
- Seneca, Letters 6.5-6
"This, my dear Lucilius, is what we mean by studying philosophy while applying it, by practising it on truth – note what courage a prudent man possesses against death, or against pain, when the one approaches and the other weighs heavily. What ought to be done must be learned from one who does it."
- Seneca, Letters 98.17
"We must learn what to do from someone who is already doing it."
- Seneca, Letters 98.17
"To instill a mind with honorable ideas, and to recall to rectitude those who are wavering and prone to do wrong, nothing is more effective than good men’s company. When they are seen and heard frequently, their influence is gradually internalized and acquires the force of precepts. An actual encounter with the wise is, of course, beneficial, and one can get some benefit from a great man even if he is silent. Just how this happens would be hard for me to tell you, but I am sure that it has happened. As Phaedo says,
"There are some tiny creatures whose attacks are so miniscule and insidious that we don’t even feel them when they bite us. Their bite is marked by a swelling, but even the swelling itself shows no wound."
The same will happen to you in associating with men who are wise. You will not realize how or when it helps you, but you will realize that it has."
We must learn what to do from someone who is already doing it
We must learn what to do from someone who is already doing it
We must learn what to do from someone who is already doing it
The picture below shows a 3D print of the so called “Pseudo-Seneca"-bust given to me by a friend. For centuries it was believed to show the aging Seneca around the period when he wrote his letters to Lucilius: on the run from Nero's goons, only eating fruit and only drinking water from natural springs to avoid getting poisoned - and entirely dedicated to writing his thoughts down for the benefit of many generations to come. We now know that the bust has no relation to Seneca whatsoever - but the power of presence is so strong and the features of the person depicted fits our impression of the man who wrote the letters so well that it is almost impossible to give up associating this bust with Seneca - as witnessed by the fact that countless editions of Seneca’s writings use a picture of that bust on the frontpage.
I can not count the number of times I have tried to convince other Seneca-fans that the bust is not a portrait of Seneca. Even so, the power of presence does it magic: I find myself talking to it - as if it was Seneca - every day!
"the living voice and conversation will do you more good than the text. You must come to witness the real thing, first because men trust their eyes more than their ears; next, because the approach through recommendations is long, but that of examples is short and effective. Cleanthes would not have reproduced Zeno’s thought if he had only heard him. He shared in Zeno’s life and saw his private actions, he watched him to see whether he lived according to his own code. Plato and Aristotle and the whole crowd of philosophers each following his different path derived more from Socrates’ behaviour than his words. It was not Epicurus’ teaching but his company that made Metrodorus and Hermarchus and Polyaenus into great men."
- Seneca, Letters 6.5-6
"This, my dear Lucilius, is what we mean by studying philosophy while applying it, by practising it on truth – note what courage a prudent man possesses against death, or against pain, when the one approaches and the other weighs heavily. What ought to be done must be learned from one who does it."
- Seneca, Letters 98.17
"We must learn what to do from someone who is already doing it."
- Seneca, Letters 98.17
"To instill a mind with honorable ideas, and to recall to rectitude those who are wavering and prone to do wrong, nothing is more effective than good men’s company. When they are seen and heard frequently, their influence is gradually internalized and acquires the force of precepts. An actual encounter with the wise is, of course, beneficial, and one can get some benefit from a great man even if he is silent. Just how this happens would be hard for me to tell you, but I am sure that it has happened. As Phaedo says,
"There are some tiny creatures whose attacks are so miniscule and insidious that we don’t even feel them when they bite us. Their bite is marked by a swelling, but even the swelling itself shows no wound."
The same will happen to you in associating with men who are wise. You will not realize how or when it helps you, but you will realize that it has."
- Seneca, Letters 94.40-41