35.
The senses do not decide upon things good and evil; they do not know what is useful and what is not useful.
They cannot record their opinion unless they are brought face to face with a fact; they can neither see into the future nor recollect the past; and they do not know what results from what.
But it is from such knowledge that a sequence and succession of actions is woven, and a unity of life is created,—a unity which will proceed in a straight course.
Reason, therefore, is the judge of good and evil; that which is foreign and external she regards as dross, and that which is neither good nor evil she judges as merely accessory, insignificant and trivial.
For all her good resides in the soul.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On various aspects of virtue
Location: Chapter 66, Section 35
Content:
35.
The senses do not decide upon things good and evil; they do not know what is useful and what is not useful.
They cannot record their opinion unless they are brought face to face with a fact; they can neither see into the future nor recollect the past; and they do not know what results from what.
But it is from such knowledge that a sequence and succession of actions is woven, and a unity of life is created,—a unity which will proceed in a straight course.
Reason, therefore, is the judge of good and evil; that which is foreign and external she regards as dross, and that which is neither good nor evil she judges as merely accessory, insignificant and trivial.
For all her good resides in the soul.