"In the writings of our own Hecaton I find it said that limiting one's desires is beneficial also as a remedy for fear. "You will cease to fear," he says, "if you cease to hope." "The two feelings are very different," you say. "How is it that they occur together?" But so it is, dear Lucilius: although they seem opposed, they are connected. Just as the prisoner and the guard are bound to each other by the same chain, so these two that are so different nonetheless go along together: where hope goes, fear follows. Nor do I find it surprising that it should be so. Both belong to the mind that is in suspense, that is worried by its expectation of what is to come. The principal cause of both is that we do not adapt ourselves to the present but direct our thoughts toward things far in the future. Thus foresight, which is the greatest good belonging to the human condition, has become an evil. Animals in the wild flee the dangers they see and are tranquil once they have escaped; we, though, are tormented both by what is to come and by what has been. Often, our goods do us harm: memory recalls the stab of fear; foresight anticipates it. No one is made wretched merely by the present".
- Seneca, Letters 5.7-9
The most essential goal in Stoicism is learning to be happy at all times. A wise person is not just happy once in a while but at all times and in every conceivable circumstance. The reason is that a wise person is always content. Every single second. There is nothing which could increase his or her happiness. If there was, the state which that person is in wouldn't be happiness. The Socratic concept of eudaimonia (happiness) means that we are in a state which is not a means to a further goal and to which nothing can be added which would make it more complete. Obviously, a person who is a state like that does not hope for anything. He or she might prefer something to happen but it makes no real difference whether that thing actually happens, since the happy person is happy regardless of whether that thing happens or not. A person who hopes for something to happen eagerly wants that thing to happen because he or she thinks it will make a difference to his or her happiness. In that case that person is not already happy and, thus, not already wise.
If I hope for something to happen in the sense that I think that that thing could improve my live - getting a raise, finding true love etc etc - I have placed myself in a position where constantly have to fear that those things doesn't happen. The Stoics think that a much better strategy is to learn how to be happy without those things. They might be nice to have - but they are not necessary for happiness and certainly not worth worrying about.
Atistia, wife of Eurysaces, the Baker; Centrale Montemartin
Jan 4, 2022·edited Jan 4, 2022Liked by Jannik Lindquist
Thanks for this, Jannik. I have been saying for years now -- always aware I could not remembe whom I heard it from -- that fear is just the flip side of hope. Now I know it is from Seneca.
Thanks for this, Jannik. I have been saying for years now -- always aware I could not remembe whom I heard it from -- that fear is just the flip side of hope. Now I know it is from Seneca.