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Onkwetsbaarheid
Stel, je hebt je leven op orde. Je voelt een innerlijke rust en je ervaart iets van werkelijk geluk, doordat je gericht bent op het goede. Toch ben je er dan nog niet. Het kan ook misgaan door invloeden van buitenaf: mensen proberen je een hak te zetten, te dwarsbomen. Je ervaart onrecht en pech. Je wordt beledigd, miskend, opzijgezet. Door zulke negatieve ervaringen raakt een mens gemakkelijk alsnog uit balans. Nergens voor nodig, zegt de Romeinse filosoof Seneca. Je kunt je ertegen wapenen. Als je het leven echt op orde hebt ben je immuun voor externe invloeden. Alles ketst op je af. Je staat erboven, lacht erom. Zo schetst Seneca een ideaalbeeld van de perfecte wijze die niet wordt geraakt door de grillen van het lot en het menselijk bestaan. Dat is ook nu nog een verleidelijk beeld voor iedereen die drukbezet is en aan hoge verwachtingen moet voldoen. Voor mensen die zich tekortgedaan voelen door het leven of de medemens. Al kan ten slotte ook de vraag opkomen of zo veel onkwetsbaarheid niet wat te veel van het goede is. Wie wil letterlijk door niets of niemand meer te raken zijn?
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
71 pages, Hardcover
Published July 15, 2014
3 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Seneca
2,708 books3,883 followersLucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca or Seneca the Younger); ca. 4 BC – 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero, who later forced him to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to have him assassinated.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 1, 2025
Een dun boekje, maar zó onwijs veel inhoud. Wat een rake woorden. Goede voorbeelden en metaforen.
Oude kennis, maar nog steeds zó relevant. Sterk nawoord ook.
Heb nu meerdere boekjes van Seneca gelezen. Prachtig, iedere keer weer.
Oude kennis, maar nog steeds zó relevant. Sterk nawoord ook.
Heb nu meerdere boekjes van Seneca gelezen. Prachtig, iedere keer weer.
July 5, 2014
The work is part of "Dialogorum" books, a collection of philosophical writings, each relating to individual aspects or problems of Stoic ethics.
It 'a dialogue, written around 62 AD, between Seneca and his friend Annaeus Sereno, who had asked the philosopher a response to an existential problem already discussed by the Stoic and Platonic thought: how to solve the "taedium vitae", or restlessness, the sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction that plague human existence.
Reply to this friend becomes the pretext for Seneca to examine and analyze the passions that govern man.
Everyone is always looking for happiness, believes diving to find it in practical commitments, but then retracts sick and wants the solitude and meditation. But even here, after a while, he feels nostalgia for his fellow man and the common occupations, which distressed him so much before.
What could be the remedy then? The only safe solution to overcome the "evil of life" would be the achievement of imperturbability, of the total detachment in the face of the vicissitudes of life (the famous Epicurean ataraxia), although, in practice, it is not possible to arrive to that.
Therefore, Seneca advised not to cancel, but to control human passions and urges especially to live in peaceful industry, engaging their energies for the good of the community, without excluding moments of introspective meditation, during which "observe" with detachment and serenity events.
In summary, the serenity of the soul is the result of the balance between the active and the meditative life, which must alternate in order to keep alive the desire of the other time of one hour.
It 'a dialogue, written around 62 AD, between Seneca and his friend Annaeus Sereno, who had asked the philosopher a response to an existential problem already discussed by the Stoic and Platonic thought: how to solve the "taedium vitae", or restlessness, the sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction that plague human existence.
Reply to this friend becomes the pretext for Seneca to examine and analyze the passions that govern man.
Everyone is always looking for happiness, believes diving to find it in practical commitments, but then retracts sick and wants the solitude and meditation. But even here, after a while, he feels nostalgia for his fellow man and the common occupations, which distressed him so much before.
What could be the remedy then? The only safe solution to overcome the "evil of life" would be the achievement of imperturbability, of the total detachment in the face of the vicissitudes of life (the famous Epicurean ataraxia), although, in practice, it is not possible to arrive to that.
Therefore, Seneca advised not to cancel, but to control human passions and urges especially to live in peaceful industry, engaging their energies for the good of the community, without excluding moments of introspective meditation, during which "observe" with detachment and serenity events.
In summary, the serenity of the soul is the result of the balance between the active and the meditative life, which must alternate in order to keep alive the desire of the other time of one hour.
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June 25, 2015Des choses fort intéressantes, surtout dans la deuxième partie. Malgré ses petits commentaires sur les femmes qui me hérissent, Sénèque est un philosophe que j'apprécie beaucoup et qui nourrit ma pensée.
July 21, 2024
In theorie klopt het allemaal. De wijze is onkwetsbaar voor beledigingen en onrecht toegebracht door anderen. Daar staat hij simpelweg boven. In de praktijk is het niet eenvoudig toe te passen. Daarbij kun je je afvragen of het wenselijk is om je als “wijze” verheven te voelen boven het “gewone volk”.
October 1, 2025
De la Constance du Sage by Seneca
10 out of 10
It is difficult, if not impossible and maybe undesirable to keep the distance from the war in Ukraine, with its horrors, bombardment of the civilian population, maternities, places where there is no military objective and then watch the loathsome Putin and his henchmen…using the thin slicing theory explained in the magical Blink – The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by the sage Malcolm Gladwell http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/b... one can see instantly the character of Lavrov, that envoy they have at the UN, the spokesperson that denied the injuries of the pregnant woman from Mariupol as self-inflicted…these are not humans, but zombies…
We could also look at the smallness of humans, as we look around the world for reactions to the invasion, we have tyrants that side with Russia openly – Xi, Kim of North Korea and others – but also those we may expect to embrace the west more – I mean I had not planned to travel to the UAE soon, but if I were, that would be cancelled, seeing their vote at the UN – and the fact that we are generally more concerned with our own fears – what if the war engulfs us, or the whole world, though a tragic, nuclear World War III scenario.
Unless we could join the fight, do something useful, we could argue that there is no pint in staying gloomy, which has an impact on those around us – we have an impact on about 1,000 people, through the echoes, vibrations that are transmitted through interactions – and studies show that everything is impacted – they looked at flu and other diseases and those who strayed with negative people were more prone to get sick…positive people are healthier, live longer on average and they are more successful in their private and personal lives, so there is an argument to use the Stoic doctrine and advice from Seneca in particular to maintain the Constancy of the Sage and be tranquil, show equanimity, if not for our selfish benefit, then at least for those around us, that will suffer the effects of our moods, whatever they are
Putin moves into Ukraine
It has been in the news for quite some time – incidentally, this is one of those cases where we see Time is relative, for it may have been some weeks, but it feels like such a long time…true, there is this other aspect, the history of these lands (to which the Short tyrant referred last night, only of course in his own interpretation, that Ukraine is really theirs, they have done nothing wrong to the countries around, like bringing the plague of communism, killing tens of millions, destroying so many societies, they have been wronged of course) that have seen so often Russia invade, plunder, commit genocide - the case of the thousands of Polish officers killed by the Soviets comes to mind and there I so much more, for they have killed though famine and other means tens of millions of their Own citizens…
In the end, troops have moved into Ukraine last night, after the short dictator declared that Russia will recognize the ‘independent states of Donetsk and Lugansk’ and they have sent troops in, which could mean the first step in a war, for then of course they will have to protect the poor people that have Russian passports from the vicious attacks of the enemy – an enemy that is invented, as America had warned, false flag operations have been set in place, they claimed the Ukraine has attacked Russia itself, then they packed their compatriots – as in, they have given passports to their own chaps, so that they can ‘create incidents’ – onto buses and shipped them 1,000 kilometers away to protect them…
Evidently, I am more than biased, this is ‘fire and fury’ for we still have to suffer the consequences of that ‘brotherly love’ over here, where they have brought communism at the end of World War II, when this country had basically a few hundred crazies registered as communist, in other words this stupid doctrine had a handful of followers and it did not matter, for the country fell behind the iron curtain and it will not recover while I am still alive, so this whole life will have been missed in part due to the vicious imperial madness of the big red bear, and what is calamitous is that the lives of hundreds of millions – if we put brother China with its own despot, Xi, in the mix -then we pass two billion victims…
I am listening online to MSNBC, I mean there are also pictures, but I have to write this for our large audience – to quote the character played by Anthony Quinn in Lawrence of Arabia ‘I am a river to my people’ – I am also smiling, for when I looked for ‘news’ as an alternative, they listed Fox, but to listen to that garbage, would be just as if I tuned in to the Russian propaganda, to hear how the ‘genius’ – Trump has just called the moves made by Putin as savvy and the short dictator as genius, but that is to be expected from such a loathsome, stupid, deranged scum – and they talk about excepting tanks on the streets of Ukrainian cities and that is rising hairs on my back, for them and also for us…
Appeasement will not stop Putin and he will not stop with the Ukraine – I mean, I have written before that the man is crazy and he may act as those suicidal people who also want to take others with them – one pilot with a German plane locked himself in the cabin and took over hundred with him into the mountain and then Malaysian Airlines went down in the ocean, almost surely because the pilot had wanted that – and the ramblings and lies he tells all show this is a dictator that has no limits….
‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ and we see that with this present day catastrophe and we have history to look back at, if we need to understand what will happen, if the killer is permitted to show his ‘muscles’ – incidentally, I am sure that psychologists have looked at those infamous pictures of the short guy that rides bare chested, showing his manhood ion all manner of poises, and concluded, just like someone with common sense, that this is a show off, an anxious fellow, insecure and feeble, as Condoleezza Rice has said a few days ago, he went from being shy and hesitant at his beginning in power to megalomania and now this, destroying a country, because he regrets the Soviet Union…
10 out of 10
It is difficult, if not impossible and maybe undesirable to keep the distance from the war in Ukraine, with its horrors, bombardment of the civilian population, maternities, places where there is no military objective and then watch the loathsome Putin and his henchmen…using the thin slicing theory explained in the magical Blink – The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by the sage Malcolm Gladwell http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/b... one can see instantly the character of Lavrov, that envoy they have at the UN, the spokesperson that denied the injuries of the pregnant woman from Mariupol as self-inflicted…these are not humans, but zombies…
We could also look at the smallness of humans, as we look around the world for reactions to the invasion, we have tyrants that side with Russia openly – Xi, Kim of North Korea and others – but also those we may expect to embrace the west more – I mean I had not planned to travel to the UAE soon, but if I were, that would be cancelled, seeing their vote at the UN – and the fact that we are generally more concerned with our own fears – what if the war engulfs us, or the whole world, though a tragic, nuclear World War III scenario.
Unless we could join the fight, do something useful, we could argue that there is no pint in staying gloomy, which has an impact on those around us – we have an impact on about 1,000 people, through the echoes, vibrations that are transmitted through interactions – and studies show that everything is impacted – they looked at flu and other diseases and those who strayed with negative people were more prone to get sick…positive people are healthier, live longer on average and they are more successful in their private and personal lives, so there is an argument to use the Stoic doctrine and advice from Seneca in particular to maintain the Constancy of the Sage and be tranquil, show equanimity, if not for our selfish benefit, then at least for those around us, that will suffer the effects of our moods, whatever they are
Putin moves into Ukraine
It has been in the news for quite some time – incidentally, this is one of those cases where we see Time is relative, for it may have been some weeks, but it feels like such a long time…true, there is this other aspect, the history of these lands (to which the Short tyrant referred last night, only of course in his own interpretation, that Ukraine is really theirs, they have done nothing wrong to the countries around, like bringing the plague of communism, killing tens of millions, destroying so many societies, they have been wronged of course) that have seen so often Russia invade, plunder, commit genocide - the case of the thousands of Polish officers killed by the Soviets comes to mind and there I so much more, for they have killed though famine and other means tens of millions of their Own citizens…
In the end, troops have moved into Ukraine last night, after the short dictator declared that Russia will recognize the ‘independent states of Donetsk and Lugansk’ and they have sent troops in, which could mean the first step in a war, for then of course they will have to protect the poor people that have Russian passports from the vicious attacks of the enemy – an enemy that is invented, as America had warned, false flag operations have been set in place, they claimed the Ukraine has attacked Russia itself, then they packed their compatriots – as in, they have given passports to their own chaps, so that they can ‘create incidents’ – onto buses and shipped them 1,000 kilometers away to protect them…
Evidently, I am more than biased, this is ‘fire and fury’ for we still have to suffer the consequences of that ‘brotherly love’ over here, where they have brought communism at the end of World War II, when this country had basically a few hundred crazies registered as communist, in other words this stupid doctrine had a handful of followers and it did not matter, for the country fell behind the iron curtain and it will not recover while I am still alive, so this whole life will have been missed in part due to the vicious imperial madness of the big red bear, and what is calamitous is that the lives of hundreds of millions – if we put brother China with its own despot, Xi, in the mix -then we pass two billion victims…
I am listening online to MSNBC, I mean there are also pictures, but I have to write this for our large audience – to quote the character played by Anthony Quinn in Lawrence of Arabia ‘I am a river to my people’ – I am also smiling, for when I looked for ‘news’ as an alternative, they listed Fox, but to listen to that garbage, would be just as if I tuned in to the Russian propaganda, to hear how the ‘genius’ – Trump has just called the moves made by Putin as savvy and the short dictator as genius, but that is to be expected from such a loathsome, stupid, deranged scum – and they talk about excepting tanks on the streets of Ukrainian cities and that is rising hairs on my back, for them and also for us…
Appeasement will not stop Putin and he will not stop with the Ukraine – I mean, I have written before that the man is crazy and he may act as those suicidal people who also want to take others with them – one pilot with a German plane locked himself in the cabin and took over hundred with him into the mountain and then Malaysian Airlines went down in the ocean, almost surely because the pilot had wanted that – and the ramblings and lies he tells all show this is a dictator that has no limits….
‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ and we see that with this present day catastrophe and we have history to look back at, if we need to understand what will happen, if the killer is permitted to show his ‘muscles’ – incidentally, I am sure that psychologists have looked at those infamous pictures of the short guy that rides bare chested, showing his manhood ion all manner of poises, and concluded, just like someone with common sense, that this is a show off, an anxious fellow, insecure and feeble, as Condoleezza Rice has said a few days ago, he went from being shy and hesitant at his beginning in power to megalomania and now this, destroying a country, because he regrets the Soviet Union…
April 2, 2019
Gemakkelijker te lezen dan Marcus Aurelius. De voorbeelden die Seneca noemt zijn uiteraard behoorlijk oud, maar blijven toepasbaar op de huidige tijd.
Wijze lessen te leren uit een kort boekje. Goed om als naslagwerk te hebben, maar ook gemakkelijk om online te vinden.
Wijze lessen te leren uit een kort boekje. Goed om als naslagwerk te hebben, maar ook gemakkelijk om online te vinden.
August 20, 2017
Mooi, soepel leesbaar vertaling van Hunink. Levert geen grote nieuwe inzichten op, maar bevestigt meer wat men (vaak) al weet. Dat maakt dit werkje voor iedereen toegankelijk.
January 30, 2022
Goede vertaling, maar stoicisme is overrated
June 2, 2022
One of the best book I have ever read so practical.
Most practical than most self help book
Most practical than most self help book
July 26, 2022
Pour ceux qui veulent se faire mal au crâne à relire 30 fois les mêmes pages, have fun :)
May 2, 2022
While Seneca’s letters are thousands of years old, they are still so timeless in their analysis that they remain surprisingly useful for modern people. Live your life consciously, says Seneca, limit your desires and focus on things you are good at.
Learn how to frame your mind so you can externalize events that are out of your control. Try not to be guided by what others think, prepare for adversity, and make sure that your inner self always remains independent. According to Seneca, only then you will live happily and that happiness in life cannot be misjudged by anything or anyone.
Next to the fact that to me it’s simply remarkable how relevant and contemporary his analyses are in today's world, I also like to fact how easy it is to implement (part of his lessons) into your day-to-day life. The letters speak for themselves and although they offer a fairly complete life program, everyone can further translate it to everyone’s own situation and talents.
Learn how to frame your mind so you can externalize events that are out of your control. Try not to be guided by what others think, prepare for adversity, and make sure that your inner self always remains independent. According to Seneca, only then you will live happily and that happiness in life cannot be misjudged by anything or anyone.
Next to the fact that to me it’s simply remarkable how relevant and contemporary his analyses are in today's world, I also like to fact how easy it is to implement (part of his lessons) into your day-to-day life. The letters speak for themselves and although they offer a fairly complete life program, everyone can further translate it to everyone’s own situation and talents.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews