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Moral Letters Vol III

Seneca

§ Section 5

On the vitality of the soul and its attributes

113:5

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.

5.

My soul is a living thing, and so am I; but we are not two separate persons.

And why?

Because the soul is part of myself.

It will only be reckoned as a definite thing in itself, when it shall exist by itself.

But as long as it shall be part of another, it cannot be regarded as different.

And why?

I will tell you: it is because that which is different, must be personal and peculiar to itself, a whole, and complete within itself.