2.
We Stoics do not urge men to take up public life in every case, or at all times, or without any qualification.
Besides, when we have assigned to our wise man that field of public life which is worthy of him,—in other words, the universe,—he is then not apart from public life, even if he withdraws; nay, perhaps he has abandoned only one little corner thereof and has passed over into greater and wider regions; and when he has been set in the heavens, he understands how lowly was the place in which he sat when he mounted the curule chair or the judgment-seat.
Lay this to heart,—that the wise man is never more active in affairs than when things divine as well as things human have come within his ken.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On wisdom and retirement
Location: Chapter 68, Section 2
Content:
2.
We Stoics do not urge men to take up public life in every case, or at all times, or without any qualification.
Besides, when we have assigned to our wise man that field of public life which is worthy of him,—in other words, the universe,—he is then not apart from public life, even if he withdraws; nay, perhaps he has abandoned only one little corner thereof and has passed over into greater and wider regions; and when he has been set in the heavens, he understands how lowly was the place in which he sat when he mounted the curule chair or the judgment-seat.
Lay this to heart,—that the wise man is never more active in affairs than when things divine as well as things human have come within his ken.