You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Each letter is fairly short and not much deep reasoning, but mainly unsupported statements. Meh.
A massive, necessary stone in the road to understanding and internalizing Stoicism.
A fascinating work given the author's history and life as one of the wealthiest people in Rome. It really is a kind of paean to what he wanted to be like, and you could tell in the subtext of the entire thing that he knew he wasn't living up to his ideals, that which he knew to be the best way to live, but he was trying.
It is interesting, though, how he could recognize privilege, but not think of charity when talking about spending money.
A fascinating work given the author's history and life as one of the wealthiest people in Rome. It really is a kind of paean to what he wanted to be like, and you could tell in the subtext of the entire thing that he knew he wasn't living up to his ideals, that which he knew to be the best way to live, but he was trying.
It is interesting, though, how he could recognize privilege, but not think of charity when talking about spending money.
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Everyone needs to read Seneca.
inspiring
slow-paced
It was good, but not much that I haven’t thought or heard before
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Letters from a Stoic is one of the finest philosophical works still around, embracing stoicism to the fullest with just the right amount of irony and humor. We read philosophy to analyze different perspectives on the meaning of life and death, and with this and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius I've about filled the whole book with tabs and comments defining the right path for me and which principles, quotes, and processes I should follow. The amount of psychology discussed here as well as some surprisingly witty debating I found very unique and made me fall in love with this book even more. Despite these being a compilation of letters, it feels like Seneca embracing his thoughts and arguing for his practices more thoroughly as every letter goes on, and towards the end he's most likely changed not only his scholar Lucilius' mind but yours as well.
Though philosophy is truly subjective, especially because of the existence of philosophies like nihilism and Epicureanism, something about Seneca's prose and way of execution could convince just about everyone to start following in his footsteps, with many quotes from the Aeneid and Georgics it's impossible not to at least give the man, even if you dislike or disagree with what Seneca says at times, like his thoughts on pleasure or sleeping in on weekdays, you'll still find enjoyment and knowledge all throughout this book, which I think is truly magical.
Seneca's thoughts about epistemology, his speeches about societal norms and conforming to them, how to handle and overcome grief, and the search for defining true friendship are only a few of the topics that come off the top of my head out of a hundred that I loved cracking down on and reading about in this text. I believe this is absolutely worthwhile and only a little behind from the great Meditations. Essential read, calling yourself a stoic without reading this book is like being blind and saying you're a pilot.
Though philosophy is truly subjective, especially because of the existence of philosophies like nihilism and Epicureanism, something about Seneca's prose and way of execution could convince just about everyone to start following in his footsteps, with many quotes from the Aeneid and Georgics it's impossible not to at least give the man, even if you dislike or disagree with what Seneca says at times, like his thoughts on pleasure or sleeping in on weekdays, you'll still find enjoyment and knowledge all throughout this book, which I think is truly magical.
Seneca's thoughts about epistemology, his speeches about societal norms and conforming to them, how to handle and overcome grief, and the search for defining true friendship are only a few of the topics that come off the top of my head out of a hundred that I loved cracking down on and reading about in this text. I believe this is absolutely worthwhile and only a little behind from the great Meditations. Essential read, calling yourself a stoic without reading this book is like being blind and saying you're a pilot.