Stoicism - College of Stoic Philosophers

150 STOICISM.find them. Thus, he sometimes seems almost aPythagorean, when he recalls the Sotion whose lectureshe attended as a boy he talks like Plato on;the nature of the soul and immortality ;and speaks of" our" Demetrius as if he were a Cynic like hisfriend. No wonder if Quintilianhave remarked uponand other criticshis inconsistencies and want ofrigorous method, forgetting that his aims were practical,and that he cared more to direct a consciencethan to expound a system. Many of the letters toowere written with a special object ;the advice wouldvary with the circumstances, and no rigidly consistentrule could be applied to different types of characterand age.But there can be no doubt that Seneca adheredwithout hesitation to the Stoic creed, and his reservesand compromises belong more to his heart than tohis head. We still hear more than we could wish ofthe extreme positions of the school, though, as a manof the world and a warm-hearted friend, he had oftento abate the rigour of its claims. We hear too muchof the ideal man, whose absolute serenity is not to beclouded by any of the accidents of health or fortune,who cannot be touched by wrong or insult, never feelsanger, grief, or pity, or any of the impulses of ouremotional nature. He refuses to allow that this isan imaginary picture, though only to be realized perhapsby few, and at long intervals of time. And yet,at another time, he frankly owns that all this grandtheory leaves him unconvinced. To be faithful tothe tenets of his school he controverts the view of