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Moral Letters Vol I

Seneca

§ Section 10

On master and slave

47:10

Book Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.

Book Description: Full of insight and wisdom, Seneca's letters are a Stoic treasure. They've influenced famous philosophers, leaders, and students over the centuries. Each letter can be read on its own. By reading this volume you'll absorb the thoughts of a thoughtful Stoic aimed at living well.

10.

Kindly remember that he whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives, and dies.

It is just as possible for you to see in him a free-born man as for him to see in you a slave.

As a result of the massacres in Marius’s day, many a man of distinguished birth, who was taking the first steps toward senatorial rank by service in the army, was humbled by fortune, one becoming a shepherd, another a caretaker of a country cottage.

Despise, then, if you dare, those to whose estate you may at any time descend, even when you are despising them.