16.
For I only wish to be a wise man in order to be wise.
And what then?
Is not that thing a Good without the possession of which a certain other thing cannot be a Good?
You surely admit that wisdom, if given without the right to be used, is not to be welcomed!
And wherein consists the use of wisdom?
In being wise; that is its most valuable attribute; if you withdraw this, wisdom becomes superfluous.
If processes of torture are evil, then being tortured is an evil—with this reservation, indeed, that if you take away the consequences, the former are not evil.
Wisdom is a condition of “mind perfected,” and being wise is the employment of this “mind perfected.” How can the employment of that thing not be a Good, which without employment is not a Good?
Book: Moral Letters Vol III
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On real ethics as superior to syllogistic subtleties
Location: Chapter 117, Section 16
Content:
16.
For I only wish to be a wise man in order to be wise.
And what then?
Is not that thing a Good without the possession of which a certain other thing cannot be a Good?
You surely admit that wisdom, if given without the right to be used, is not to be welcomed!
And wherein consists the use of wisdom?
In being wise; that is its most valuable attribute; if you withdraw this, wisdom becomes superfluous.
If processes of torture are evil, then being tortured is an evil—with this reservation, indeed, that if you take away the consequences, the former are not evil.
Wisdom is a condition of “mind perfected,” and being wise is the employment of this “mind perfected.” How can the employment of that thing not be a Good, which without employment is not a Good?