35.
Nay even when it is among the living, the soul fears nothing that may happen to the body after death; for though such things may have been threats, they were not enough to terrify the soul previous to the moment of death.
It says: “I am not frightened by the executioner’s hook, nor by the revolting mutilation of the corpse which is exposed to the scorn of those who would witness the spectacle.
I ask no man to perform the last rites for me; I entrust my remains to none.
Nature has made provision that none shall go unburied.
Time will lay away one whom cruelty has cast forth.” Those were eloquent words which Maecenas uttered: I want no tomb; for Nature doth provide For outcast bodies burial.
You would imagine that this was the saying of a man of strict principles.
He was indeed a man of noble and robust native gifts, but in prosperity he impaired these gifts by laxness.
Farewell.
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 35
Content:
35.
Nay even when it is among the living, the soul fears nothing that may happen to the body after death; for though such things may have been threats, they were not enough to terrify the soul previous to the moment of death.
It says: “I am not frightened by the executioner’s hook, nor by the revolting mutilation of the corpse which is exposed to the scorn of those who would witness the spectacle.
I ask no man to perform the last rites for me; I entrust my remains to none.
Nature has made provision that none shall go unburied.
Time will lay away one whom cruelty has cast forth.” Those were eloquent words which Maecenas uttered: I want no tomb; for Nature doth provide For outcast bodies burial.
You would imagine that this was the saying of a man of strict principles.
He was indeed a man of noble and robust native gifts, but in prosperity he impaired these gifts by laxness.
Farewell.