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Moral Letters Vol III

Seneca

§ Section 53

On the value of advice

94:53

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.

53.

There is no word which reaches our ears without doing us harm; we are injured both by good wishes and by curses.

The angry prayers of our enemies instil false fears in us; and the affection of our friends spoils us through their kindly wishes.

For this affection sets us a-groping after goods that are far away, unsure, and wavering, when we really might open the store of happiness at home.