Seneca's Morals of a Happy Life, Benefits, Anger and Clemency

There is so near an affinity betwixt _anger_ and _cruelty_, that many people confound them; as if _cruelty_ were only the _execution_ of _anger_ in the payment of a _revenge_: w...

The whole duty of man may be reduced to the two points of _abstinence_ and _patience_; _temperance_ in _prosperity_, and _courage_ in _adversity_. We have already treated of the...

There is no surer argument of a great mind than not to be transported to anger by any accident; the clouds and the tempests are formed below, but all above is quiet and serene;...

It is a hard task to master the natural desire of life by a philosophical contempt of death, and to convince the world that there is no hurt in it, and crush an opinion that was...

In the first place, Anger is _unwarrantable_ as it is _unjust_: for it falls many times upon the wrong person, and discharges itself upon the innocent instead of the guilty: bes...

Virtue is that perfect good which is the complement of a _happy life_; the only immortal thing that belongs to mortality—it is the knowledge both of others and itself—it is an i...

There is not anything that is necessary to us but we have it either _cheap_ or _gratis_: and this is the provision that our heavenly Father has made for us, whose bounty was nev...

If it be true, that the _understanding_ and the _will_ are the _two eminent faculties of the reasonable soul_, it follows necessarily, that _wisdom_ and _virtue_, (which are the...

There seems to be so near an affinity betwixt _wisdom_, _philosophy_, and _good counsels_, that it is rather matter of curiosity than of profit to divide them; _philosophy_, bei...

We come now to the main point of the matter in question: that is to say, whether or not it be a thing desirable in itself, the giving and receiving of benefits? There is a sect...

Whoever observes the world, and the order of it, will find all the motions in it to be only vicissitudes of falling and rising; nothing extinguished, and even those things which...

The sensuality that we here treat of falls naturally under the head of luxury; which extends to all the excesses of gluttony, lust, effeminacy of manners; and, in short, to what...

Now, to sum up what is already delivered, we have showed what happiness is, and wherein it consists: that it is founded upon wisdom and virtue; for we must first know what we ou...

In the distribution of human life, we find that a great part of it passes away in _evil doing_; a greater yet in doing just _nothing at all_: and effectually the whole in doing...

There are certain rules in common betwixt the giver and the receiver. We must do both cheerfully, that the giver may receive the fruit of his benefit in the very act of bestowin...

There are some benefits whereof a wicked man is wholly incapable; of which hereafter. There are others, which are bestowed upon him, not for his own sake, but for secondary reas...

All that we have to say in particular upon this subject lies under these two heads: first, that we do not _fall_ into anger; and secondly, that we do not _transgress in it_. As...

Oh the blessings of privacy and leisure! The wish of the powerful and eminent, but the privilege only of inferiors; who are the only people that live to themselves: nay, the ver...

The man that would be truly rich must not increase his fortune, but retrench his appetites: for riches are not only superfluous, but mean, and little more to the possessor than...

If the world were wise, and as honest as it should be, there would be no need of caution or precept how to behave ourselves in our several stations and duties; for both the give...

Next to the encounter of death in our own bodies, the most sensible calamity to an honest man is the death of a friend; and we are not in truth without some generous instances o...

Never pronounce any man happy that depends upon fortune for his happiness; for nothing can be more preposterous than to place the good of a reasonable creature in unreasonable t...

This life is only a prelude to eternity, where we are to expect another original, and another state of things; we have no prospect of heaven here but at a distance; let us there...

In this wandering state of life we meet with many occasions of trouble and displeasure, both great and trivial; and not a day passes but, from men or things, we have some cause...

We have already spoken of _benefits_ in _general_; the _matter_ and the _intention_, together with the _manner_ of conferring them. It follows now, in course, to say something o...

Taking for granted that _human happiness_ is founded upon _wisdom_ and _virtue_ we shall treat of these two points in order as they lie: and, _first_, of _wisdom_; not in the la...

“A good conscience is the testimony of a good life, and the reward of it.” This is it that fortifies the mind against fortune, when a man has gotten the mastery of his passions;...

No man shall ever be poor that goes to himself for what he wants; and that is the readiest way to riches. Nature, indeed, will have her due; but yet whatsoever is beyond necessi...

Ingratitude is of all the crimes, that which we are to account the most venial in others, and the most unpardonable in ourselves. It is impious to the highest degree; for it mak...

Of provocations to anger there are two sorts; there is an _injury_, and there is a _contumely_. The former in its own nature is the heavier; the other slight in itself, and only...

Of all felicities, the most charming is that of a _firm_ and _gentle friendship_. It sweetens all our cares, dispels our sorrows, and counsels us in all extremities. Nay, if the...

There is not in the scale of nature a more inseparable connection of cause and effect, than in the case of happiness and virtue; nor anything that more naturally produces the on...

The question is (in the first place) whether it may not be possible for a father to owe more to a son, in other respects, than the son owes to his father for his being? That man...

The comfort of life depends upon conversation. Good offices, and concord, and human society, is like the working of an arch of stone; all would fall to the ground if one piece d...

The three main points in the question of benefits are, first, a _judicious choice_ in the _object_; secondly, in the _matter_ of our benevolence; and thirdly, a grateful _felici...

There is not any benefit so glorious in itself, but it may yet be exceedingly sweetened and improved by the _manner_ of conferring it. The virtue, I know, rests in the _intent,_...

He that preaches gratitude, pleads the cause both of God and man; for without it we can neither be sociable nor religious. There is a strange delight in the very purpose and con...

It is good for every man to fortify himself on his weak side: and if he loves his peace he must not be inquisitive, and hearken to tale-bearers; for the man that is over-curious...

Ingratitude is so dangerous to itself, and so detestable to other people, that nature, one would think, had sufficiently provided against it, without need of any other law. For...

No man can be said to be perfectly happy that runs the risk of disappointment: which is the case of every man that _fears_ or _hopes_ for anything. For _hope_ and _fear_, how di...

It is a masterpiece to draw good out of evil; and, by the help of virtue, to improve misfortunes into blessings. “It is a sad condition,” you will say, “for a man to be barred t...

It is an idle thing to pretend that we cannot govern our _anger_; for some things that we do are much harder than others that we ought to do; the wildest affections may be tamed...

Next to the choice of the _person_ follows that of the _matter_; wherein a regard must be had to time, place, proportion, quality; and to the very nicks of opportunity and humor...

How many things are there that the fancy makes terrible by night, which the day turns into ridiculous! What is there in labor, or in death, that a man should be afraid of? They...

There is not any thing in this world, perhaps, that is more talked of, and less understood, than the business of a _happy life_. It is every man’s wish and design; and yet not o...

It passes in the world for a generous and magnificent saying, that “it is a shame for a man to be outdone in courtesy;” and it is worth the while to examine, both the truth of i...

To refuse a good office, not so much because we do not need it, as because we would not be indebted for it, is a kind of fantastical ingratitude, and somewhat akin to that nicet...

The question now before us requires _distinction_ and _caution_. For though it be both natural and generous to wish well to my friend’s friend, yet a _second-hand benefit_ does...

The _good-will_ of the benefactor is the fountain of all benefits; nay it is the benefit itself, or, at least, the stamp that makes it valuable and current. Some there are, I kn...

It is not prudent to deny a pardon to any man, without first examining if we stand not in need of it ourselves; for it may be our lot to ask it, even at his feet to whom we refu...

We are here to encounter the most outrageous, brutal, dangerous, and intractable of all passions; the most loathsome and unmannerly; nay, the most ridiculous too; and the subdui...

The question will be here, whether _anger_ takes its rise from impulse or judgment; that is, whether it be moved of its own accord, or, as many other things are, from within us,...

He was much in the right, whoever it was, that first called _anger a short madness_; for they have both of them the same symptoms; and there is so wonderful a resemblance betwix...

As it is the _will_ that designs the benefit, and the _matter_ that conveys it, so it is the _judgment_ that perfects it; which depends upon so many critical niceties, that the...

There are many cases, wherein a man speaks of himself as of another. As, for example, “I may thank myself for this; I am angry at myself; I hate myself for that.” And this way o...

We shall divide _benefits_ into _absolute_ and _vulgar_; the one appertaining to good life, the other is only matter of commerce. The former are the more excellent, because they...

It is, perhaps, one of the most pernicious errors of a rash and inconsiderate life, the common ignorance of the world in the matter of exchanging _benefits_. And this arises fro...