Back to On the vitality of the soul and its attributes

Moral Letters Vol III

Seneca

§ Section 16

On the vitality of the soul and its attributes

113:16

Book Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.

Book Description: The final volume of Seneca's moral letters. Common Stoic themes emerge again and again: the unreliability of fortune, the ability to form Stoic resolve, and the importance of virtue.

16.

And among the other reasons for marvelling at the genius of the Divine Creator is, I believe, this,—that amid all this abundance there is no repetition; even seemingly similar things are, on comparison, unlike.

God has created all the great number of leaves that we behold: each, however, is stamped with its special pattern.

All the many animals: none resembles another in size—always some difference!

The Creator has set himself the task of making unlike and unequal things that are different; but all the virtues, as your argument states, are equal.

Therefore, they are not living things.