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On a Happy Life, On the Shortness of Life, and On Providence:
De Vita Beata ("On the Happy Life") is a dialogue written by Seneca the Younger around the year 58 AD. It was intended for his older brother Gallio, to whom Seneca also dedicated his dialogue entitled De Ira ("On Anger"). It is divided into 28 chapters that present the moral thoughts of Seneca at their most mature. Seneca explains that the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of reason – reason meant not only using logic, but also understanding the processes of nature.The dialogue has the full title ad Gallionem de Vita Beata ("To Gallio on the happy life"). It was probably written in early 58 or a little earlier. From incidental remarks made in the work, it is thought Seneca wrote it when he was in a position of power near the beginning of Nero's reign between 54 and 59. Furthermore, Tacitus tells us that Publius Suillius Rufus had made a series of public attacks concerning Seneca's wealth in 58, and De Vita Beata contains a defense of wealth which may be a response to this or similar criticisms made around this time.
The work ends rather abruptly and is followed in the manuscripts by Seneca's De Otio which is missing its beginning. The earliest surviving manuscript is from the Codex Ambrosianus, a Milan Codex, from the 11th century and other copies are derived from this archetype.
De Brevitate Vitae ( On the Shortness of Life) is a moral essay written by Seneca the Younger, a Roman Stoic philosopher, sometime around the year 49 AD, to his father-in-law Paulinus. The philosopher brings up many Stoic principles on the nature of time, namely that people waste much of it in meaningless pursuits. According to the essay, nature gives people enough time to do what is really important and the individual must allot it properly. In general, time is best used by living in the present moment in pursuit of the intentional, purposeful life.
Similar ideas can be found in Seneca's treatise De Otio (On Leisure) and discussion of these themes can often be found in his Letters to Lucilius (letter 49, 101, etc.).De Providentia (On Providence) is a short essay in the form of a dialogue in six brief sections, written by the Latin philosopher Seneca (died AD 65) in the last years of his life. He chose the dialogue form (as in the well-known Plato's works) to deal with the problem of the co-existence of the Stoic design of providence with the evil in the world—the so-called "problem of evil."
The dialogue is opened by Lucilius complaining with his friend Seneca that adversities and misfortunes can happen to good men too. How can this fit with the goodness connected with the design of providence? Seneca answers according to the Stoic point of view. Nothing actually bad can happen to the good man (the wise man) because opposites don't mix. What looks like adversity is in fact a means by which the man exerts his virtues. As such, he can come out of the ordeal stronger than before.
So, in perfect harmony with the Stoic philosophy, Seneca explains that the truly wise man can never surrender in the face of misfortunes but as he will always go through them and even if he should fall he will continue fighting on his knees ("si cecidit de genu pugnat"). The wise man understands destiny and its design, and therefore he has nothing to fear from the future. Neither does he hope for anything, because he already has everything he needs – his good behaviour.
The conclusion is that actually nothing bad happens to good men.
The work ends rather abruptly and is followed in the manuscripts by Seneca's De Otio which is missing its beginning. The earliest surviving manuscript is from the Codex Ambrosianus, a Milan Codex, from the 11th century and other copies are derived from this archetype.
De Brevitate Vitae ( On the Shortness of Life) is a moral essay written by Seneca the Younger, a Roman Stoic philosopher, sometime around the year 49 AD, to his father-in-law Paulinus. The philosopher brings up many Stoic principles on the nature of time, namely that people waste much of it in meaningless pursuits. According to the essay, nature gives people enough time to do what is really important and the individual must allot it properly. In general, time is best used by living in the present moment in pursuit of the intentional, purposeful life.
Similar ideas can be found in Seneca's treatise De Otio (On Leisure) and discussion of these themes can often be found in his Letters to Lucilius (letter 49, 101, etc.).De Providentia (On Providence) is a short essay in the form of a dialogue in six brief sections, written by the Latin philosopher Seneca (died AD 65) in the last years of his life. He chose the dialogue form (as in the well-known Plato's works) to deal with the problem of the co-existence of the Stoic design of providence with the evil in the world—the so-called "problem of evil."
The dialogue is opened by Lucilius complaining with his friend Seneca that adversities and misfortunes can happen to good men too. How can this fit with the goodness connected with the design of providence? Seneca answers according to the Stoic point of view. Nothing actually bad can happen to the good man (the wise man) because opposites don't mix. What looks like adversity is in fact a means by which the man exerts his virtues. As such, he can come out of the ordeal stronger than before.
So, in perfect harmony with the Stoic philosophy, Seneca explains that the truly wise man can never surrender in the face of misfortunes but as he will always go through them and even if he should fall he will continue fighting on his knees ("si cecidit de genu pugnat"). The wise man understands destiny and its design, and therefore he has nothing to fear from the future. Neither does he hope for anything, because he already has everything he needs – his good behaviour.
The conclusion is that actually nothing bad happens to good men.
104 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 14, 2021
About the author
Seneca
2,844 books4,100 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 of 1 review
August 17, 2026
On The Happy Life, Providence by Seneca – one of the greatest thinkers of all time, and one of the richest men of ancient, and presumably also of all time, one of a dozen notes on Seneca and the stoics is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/06/... we need stoicism to face the American elections
10 out of 10
It is the proper time to read or take on again Seneca, the Stoics, Michel de Montaigne https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... great luminaries that could help us get over the stress of the coming days, this is the Sunday before November 5
Nevertheless, we could try and be Panglossian https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/12/... proclaiming that ‘we live in the best of all possible worlds’, regardless of the upcoming Armageddon, what with Orange Jesus favorite (2 in 3 at betting houses) to be the most powerful man on earth
So let us listen to Seneca, a real ‘very stable genius’, unlike the self-proclaimed buffoon, who may destroy NATO, bring Russia again in our courtyard, not just the backyard, and try to apply those precepts ‘wish for what you already have’, which is incidentally the secret for Nirvana, the state where there are no more cravings…
The fact that an Orange Felon, who uses a lot of make-up, while screaming about ‘you send your child to school, and he comes home with a sex change’, which is preposterous, not just false, but this is the paradigm of the crazy, ‘disgusting’ monster – the highest ranking republican in the Senate called him that, just lie almost all of those who worked for him denounced the danger he presents, ‘fascist, fucking moron, and more such labels…you would not hire someone with such a CV, would you’ – is likely to be president is awful
This is why we need Stoicism, before we get Atomised https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/04/... for it ‘is not what happens, but what we make of what happens’, although in this particular r case we need many more words of wisdom –‘the mind is its own place, it can make…
Hell out of heaven, and heaven out of hell’, in other words, if the votes go for the absolute lunatic, we need a paradigm change like the one described in Vernon God Little, Booker Prize Winner by DBC Pierre, which is something like this ‘imagine you enter a room and a stranger has his finger up your grannie’s bum, what do you think…I will kill the bastard…but then you find that he is only trying to save her, she is in danger
Well then, I say he is my hero, and that is paradigm shift for you https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/06/... talking about those crazy elections, it is about the same, in my mind, we either have a finger or worse in the ass, or else we are saved
Which will not come easy, for the idiot will challenge the results, indeed, he has already done it, he made it clear, either he wins, which means it is all fair and just, or he loses, and that can only happen if the votes are rigged, by the way, he also won the last time around, in his fantasy world and that of his cult members
In the psychology classic Influence https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/05/... by Robert Cialdini we have six principles, and among them there are the Principle of Respect for Authority, Social Conformity, Reciprocity, and those three led to a mass suicide in Guyana, some decades ago
I refer to this, because it could happen again, although this time, it could be much worse, for the numbers involved could be catastrophically higher, and besides, those MAGA morons would not just affect themselves, but large parts of the world, if not all of it, what with destruction of NATO, blowing up world trade and worse
It does not have to be this way, but as The Economist explains in its lead articles, the risk is too high with Trump, and they endorse Harris, on the economic front, where he was supposed to be ‘better’, he will cut taxes, making the budget deficit astronomically higher, he keeps talking about tariffs with gusto, emphatically
In an interview with Bloomberg, he was told about the impact, when you raise tariffs, the cost is passed on to consumers, and then you have inflation, something for which he attacks Kamala Harris and Biden, but he will take to dangerous levels, especially if we will have the 20% on all, and thousands percent on some Chinese goods
Then there is the attack on democracy, what he did on January 6, 2021 and looks like preparing again, as I said, I mean as it is explained by so many, he insists he has won in 2020 (one of the tens of thousands of lies) and those hooligans and terrorists that occupied Congress are ‘patriots’, I mean what more do they need
You also have his talk about putting Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad (words to that effect) having the army set on ‘enemy within’, he wanted soldiers to shoot protesters in the leg, when he was president, talked about sending missiles into Mexico, love affair with Kim of North Korea, how he likes Putin, Xi…
So we need stoicism, Seneca https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/... has written about the Brevity of Life, among other things and it is indeed a waste of time to talk about a fool, also to speculate on what will happen, it is the old Zen Master Story, ‘we shall see, he keeps saying’ when the villagers alternate between sorrow, compassion, and mirth, he shows equanimity, for we do not know the future
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
10 out of 10
It is the proper time to read or take on again Seneca, the Stoics, Michel de Montaigne https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... great luminaries that could help us get over the stress of the coming days, this is the Sunday before November 5
Nevertheless, we could try and be Panglossian https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/12/... proclaiming that ‘we live in the best of all possible worlds’, regardless of the upcoming Armageddon, what with Orange Jesus favorite (2 in 3 at betting houses) to be the most powerful man on earth
So let us listen to Seneca, a real ‘very stable genius’, unlike the self-proclaimed buffoon, who may destroy NATO, bring Russia again in our courtyard, not just the backyard, and try to apply those precepts ‘wish for what you already have’, which is incidentally the secret for Nirvana, the state where there are no more cravings…
The fact that an Orange Felon, who uses a lot of make-up, while screaming about ‘you send your child to school, and he comes home with a sex change’, which is preposterous, not just false, but this is the paradigm of the crazy, ‘disgusting’ monster – the highest ranking republican in the Senate called him that, just lie almost all of those who worked for him denounced the danger he presents, ‘fascist, fucking moron, and more such labels…you would not hire someone with such a CV, would you’ – is likely to be president is awful
This is why we need Stoicism, before we get Atomised https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/04/... for it ‘is not what happens, but what we make of what happens’, although in this particular r case we need many more words of wisdom –‘the mind is its own place, it can make…
Hell out of heaven, and heaven out of hell’, in other words, if the votes go for the absolute lunatic, we need a paradigm change like the one described in Vernon God Little, Booker Prize Winner by DBC Pierre, which is something like this ‘imagine you enter a room and a stranger has his finger up your grannie’s bum, what do you think…I will kill the bastard…but then you find that he is only trying to save her, she is in danger
Well then, I say he is my hero, and that is paradigm shift for you https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/06/... talking about those crazy elections, it is about the same, in my mind, we either have a finger or worse in the ass, or else we are saved
Which will not come easy, for the idiot will challenge the results, indeed, he has already done it, he made it clear, either he wins, which means it is all fair and just, or he loses, and that can only happen if the votes are rigged, by the way, he also won the last time around, in his fantasy world and that of his cult members
In the psychology classic Influence https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/05/... by Robert Cialdini we have six principles, and among them there are the Principle of Respect for Authority, Social Conformity, Reciprocity, and those three led to a mass suicide in Guyana, some decades ago
I refer to this, because it could happen again, although this time, it could be much worse, for the numbers involved could be catastrophically higher, and besides, those MAGA morons would not just affect themselves, but large parts of the world, if not all of it, what with destruction of NATO, blowing up world trade and worse
It does not have to be this way, but as The Economist explains in its lead articles, the risk is too high with Trump, and they endorse Harris, on the economic front, where he was supposed to be ‘better’, he will cut taxes, making the budget deficit astronomically higher, he keeps talking about tariffs with gusto, emphatically
In an interview with Bloomberg, he was told about the impact, when you raise tariffs, the cost is passed on to consumers, and then you have inflation, something for which he attacks Kamala Harris and Biden, but he will take to dangerous levels, especially if we will have the 20% on all, and thousands percent on some Chinese goods
Then there is the attack on democracy, what he did on January 6, 2021 and looks like preparing again, as I said, I mean as it is explained by so many, he insists he has won in 2020 (one of the tens of thousands of lies) and those hooligans and terrorists that occupied Congress are ‘patriots’, I mean what more do they need
You also have his talk about putting Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad (words to that effect) having the army set on ‘enemy within’, he wanted soldiers to shoot protesters in the leg, when he was president, talked about sending missiles into Mexico, love affair with Kim of North Korea, how he likes Putin, Xi…
So we need stoicism, Seneca https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/... has written about the Brevity of Life, among other things and it is indeed a waste of time to talk about a fool, also to speculate on what will happen, it is the old Zen Master Story, ‘we shall see, he keeps saying’ when the villagers alternate between sorrow, compassion, and mirth, he shows equanimity, for we do not know the future
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review