21. “What,” you say, “do you call reclining at a banquet and submitting to torture equally good?” Does this seem surprising to you?
You may be still more surprised at the following,—that reclining at a banquet is an evil, while reclining on the rack is a good, if the former act is done in a shameful, and the latter in an honourable manner.
It is not the material that makes these actions good or bad; it is the virtue.
All acts in which virtue has disclosed itself are of the same measure and value.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the supreme good
Location: Chapter 71, Section 21
Content:
21. “What,” you say, “do you call reclining at a banquet and submitting to torture equally good?” Does this seem surprising to you?
You may be still more surprised at the following,—that reclining at a banquet is an evil, while reclining on the rack is a good, if the former act is done in a shameful, and the latter in an honourable manner.
It is not the material that makes these actions good or bad; it is the virtue.
All acts in which virtue has disclosed itself are of the same measure and value.