On consolation to the bereaved
99:17
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.
17.
In this matter, as in others also, we are obsessed by this fault—conforming to the pattern of the many, and regarding convention rather than duty.
We abandon nature and surrender to the mob—who are never good advisers in anything, and in this respect as in all others are most inconsistent.
People see a man who bears his grief bravely: they call him undutiful and savage-hearted; they see a man who collapses and clings to his dead: they call him womanish and weak.
Book: Moral Letters Vol III
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On consolation to the bereaved
Location: Chapter 99, Section 17
Content:
17.
In this matter, as in others also, we are obsessed by this fault—conforming to the pattern of the many, and regarding convention rather than duty.
We abandon nature and surrender to the mob—who are never good advisers in anything, and in this respect as in all others are most inconsistent.
People see a man who bears his grief bravely: they call him undutiful and savage-hearted; they see a man who collapses and clings to his dead: they call him womanish and weak.