29.
Bravery is a scorner of things which inspire fear; it looks down upon, challenges, and crushes the powers of terror and all that would drive our freedom under the yoke.
But do “liberal studies” strengthen this virtue?
Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart; it is forced into betrayal by no constraint, and it is bribed by no rewards.
Loyalty cries: “Burn me, slay me, kill me!
I shall not betray my trust; and the more urgently torture shall seek to find my secret, the deeper in my heart will I bury it!” Can the “liberal arts” produce such a spirit within us?
Temperance controls our desires; some it hates and routs, others it regulates and restores to a healthy measure, nor does it ever approach our desires for their own sake.
Temperance knows that the best measure of the appetites is not what you want to take, but what you ought to take.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On liberal and vocational studies
Location: Chapter 88, Section 29
Content:
29.
Bravery is a scorner of things which inspire fear; it looks down upon, challenges, and crushes the powers of terror and all that would drive our freedom under the yoke.
But do “liberal studies” strengthen this virtue?
Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart; it is forced into betrayal by no constraint, and it is bribed by no rewards.
Loyalty cries: “Burn me, slay me, kill me!
I shall not betray my trust; and the more urgently torture shall seek to find my secret, the deeper in my heart will I bury it!” Can the “liberal arts” produce such a spirit within us?
Temperance controls our desires; some it hates and routs, others it regulates and restores to a healthy measure, nor does it ever approach our desires for their own sake.
Temperance knows that the best measure of the appetites is not what you want to take, but what you ought to take.