30.
But He in whose body virtue dwells, and spirit E’er present is equal to the gods; mindful of his origin, he strives to return thither.
No man does wrong in attempting to regain the heights from which he once came down.
And why should you not believe that something of divinity exists in one who is a part of God?
All this universe which encompasses us is one, and it is God; we are associates of God; we are his members.
Our soul has capabilities, and is carried thither, if vices do not hold it down.
Just as it is the nature of our bodies to stand erect and look upward to the sky, so the soul, which may reach out as far as it will, was framed by nature to this end, that it should desire equality with the gods.
And if it makes use of its powers and stretches upward into its proper region it is by no alien path that it struggles toward the heights.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the happy life
Location: Chapter 92, Section 30
Content:
30.
But He in whose body virtue dwells, and spirit E’er present is equal to the gods; mindful of his origin, he strives to return thither.
No man does wrong in attempting to regain the heights from which he once came down.
And why should you not believe that something of divinity exists in one who is a part of God?
All this universe which encompasses us is one, and it is God; we are associates of God; we are his members.
Our soul has capabilities, and is carried thither, if vices do not hold it down.
Just as it is the nature of our bodies to stand erect and look upward to the sky, so the soul, which may reach out as far as it will, was framed by nature to this end, that it should desire equality with the gods.
And if it makes use of its powers and stretches upward into its proper region it is by no alien path that it struggles toward the heights.