30.
The other answer, which I promised to make to your objection, follows from this reasoning.
The wise man is not distressed by the loss of children or of friends.
For he endures their death in the same spirit in which he awaits his own.
And he fears the one as little as he grieves for the other.
For the underlying principle of virtue is conformity; all the works of virtue are in harmony and agreement with virtue itself.
But this harmony is lost if the soul, which ought to be uplifted, is cast down by grief or a sense of loss.
It is ever a dishonour for a man to be troubled and fretted, to be numbed when there is any call for activity.
For that which is honourable is free from care and untrammelled, is unafraid, and stands girt for action.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On virtue as a refuge from worldly distractions
Location: Chapter 74, Section 30
Content:
30.
The other answer, which I promised to make to your objection, follows from this reasoning.
The wise man is not distressed by the loss of children or of friends.
For he endures their death in the same spirit in which he awaits his own.
And he fears the one as little as he grieves for the other.
For the underlying principle of virtue is conformity; all the works of virtue are in harmony and agreement with virtue itself.
But this harmony is lost if the soul, which ought to be uplifted, is cast down by grief or a sense of loss.
It is ever a dishonour for a man to be troubled and fretted, to be numbed when there is any call for activity.
For that which is honourable is free from care and untrammelled, is unafraid, and stands girt for action.