Seneca on the Superiority of Man over the gods

“Would you like to know what the actual difference between you and the gods will be? They will exist for longer. And yet to me what an indisputable mark it is of a great artist to have captured everything in a tiny compass; a wise man has as much scope before him as a god with all eternity in front of him.”
Letter LIII to Lucilius

Remarking on the breadth of wisdom and brevity of life, Seneca offers Lucilius some consolation: for humanity, dust in the wind though we may be, any fragment of wisdom is a miracle and a testament to our fortitude. Perhaps we ought to be looking down on such hacks as the gods’ perpetuity. It is an emboldening statement for an aspiring philosopher.

Caesar responding to Ariovistus

“The immortal gods usually allow those men they wish to punish for their crimes a time of success and a period of impunity, so that when a change of fortune comes they are all the more grieved by it.”
Gaius Julius Caesar, The First Book: 58 BC, The Gallic War

Recalling his response when German King Ariovistus boasted of the 107 BC victory over the Romans, Caesar informs his readers that he retorted something to the effect of the above. In light of the fact that the battle Ariovistus flaunts was one in which Caesar’s relative Lucius Piso and the Roman consul Lucius Cassius Longinus perished, this response reveals Caesar’s calm and collected wit. As Caesar then went on to rout the Germans back across the Rhine in a humiliating defeat, this quote reads almost like a prophecy. But one should read Caesar’s histories skeptically as he no doubt wrote them looking to heighten his own status and popularity. Indeed, the Gallic War was published on the eve of the civil war and retrospectively rendering himself as a prophet might assure submission.

I want to offer a thanks to the YouTube channel linked below where I was pointed to Caesar’s histories:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv_vLHiWVBh_FR9vbeuiY-A

Seneca on Fortune

“What fortune has made yours is not your own.”

-Letter VIII to Lucilius

Roman philosopher Seneca here reminds Lucilius of a sentiment he earlier expressed. Fortune, in its abitrary forces, plays a massive role in the lives we lead. If we are a society that values the individual above the family and work ethic above all else, then perhaps fortune ought to be a lens through which we view and regard our merits. I find this quotation especially relevant considering the recent corruption we have found in our universities’ admissions offices. The scheming seems all the more pitiable when one accounts for the fact that many of the individuals admitted under unfair circumstances come from places of affluence.

Seneca quoting Ovid on Wealth

“The poor man ’tis that counts his flock.”
Ovid, Metamorphoses, XIII: 824 qtd. in Letter XXXIII to Lucilius

In his letter to the aspiring stoic Lucilius, Seneca calls on the above verse by Ovid to offer some wisdom. Wealth and poverty, according to Seneca, are states defined by one’s perception…not one’s possessions. The poor man may be wealthy with a fraction or none of the wealthy man’s possessions, if only he makes little requisite to his happiness. This optimistic notion promises man a life of felicity no matter his fortune, and challenges all of us to redefine our necessities.

For this post I’d like to offer thanks to the following page and YouTube channel where my interest in Seneca first came to light:

https://orwell1627.wordpress.com/about/

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRuggedPyrrhus

In addition to finding Seneca through this creator, I’ve appropriated the words and concept of “The Great Conversation” from him. I am proud to be a part of it.

Camus on Nationalism

“I love my country too much to be a nationalist.”
Albert Camus, letters to a German friend (1945)

I find Camus’ stance on nationalism quite compelling. Too often nationalism manifests itself dogmatically…in a form which can do nothing but stomp out positive and necessary change. One may love their country and not be a nationalist.

A thanks again to the facebook page linked below, where I came across this excerpt of Camus’

https://m.facebook.com/AlbertCamusAuthor/

Camus on Lifting Others

Image result for albert camus color image — Always with cigarette in hand

“We help a person more by giving him a favorable image of himself rather than constantly reminding him of his shortages.”

-Albert Camus, Notebooks 1942-1951

For my first post, I think it fitting to offer this wisdom from celebrated French-Algerian philosopher and Nobel laureate, Albert Camus. Reflecting on those first English papers I received back that brandished marks of encouragement, I doubt I would have began pursuing wisdom in my free time, and thus doubt this page would be possible, if not for the fire that was ignited in me when I read them.

A special thanks to the facebook page linked below where I found this excerpt.

https://m.facebook.com/AlbertCamusAuthor/