On the vanity of place-seeking
118:6
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.
6.
For who was ever satisfied, after attainment, with that which loomed up large as he prayed for it?
Happiness is not, as men think, a greedy thing; it is a lowly thing; for that reason it never gluts a man’s desire.
You deem lofty the objects you seek, because you are on a low level and hence far away from them; but they are mean in the sight of him who has reached them.
And I am very much mistaken if he does not desire to climb still higher; that which you regard as the top is merely a rung on the ladder.
Book: Moral Letters Vol III
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the vanity of place-seeking
Location: Chapter 118, Section 6
Content:
6.
For who was ever satisfied, after attainment, with that which loomed up large as he prayed for it?
Happiness is not, as men think, a greedy thing; it is a lowly thing; for that reason it never gluts a man’s desire.
You deem lofty the objects you seek, because you are on a low level and hence far away from them; but they are mean in the sight of him who has reached them.
And I am very much mistaken if he does not desire to climb still higher; that which you regard as the top is merely a rung on the ladder.