Stoicism - College of Stoic Philosophers

SENECA AS A MORALIST. 151Aristotle that the emotions are necessary parts ofhuman nature, to be regulated, not repressed. Buthis own reasoning on the subject isinconsequent andfeeble, and betrays his sense of the weakness of athesis which he elsewhere surrenders in detail. Heseems to feel, indeed, throughout misgivings which heputs into the mouth of an objector, and never reallymeets." These are the reasons why your teaching carriesso littleweight ; you promise much more thanwe can hope for, still less credit. Then, after yourgrand professions that the sage is never poor, youadmit that he may be in want of clothing, food, andshelter. You say that the sage never can be foolish,yet allow that he may lose his senses, and utter sillywords, and go to whatever lengths his morbid violencemay force him. After denying that the wise man canever lose his freedom, you admit that he may be sold,and have to obey orders, and to do menial drudgeryto serve his master. So, after all your lofty airs, yougo to much the same lengths as other folks, thoughyou call things by new names. So I suspect that itissomething of the kind in this case : fine and grandas the statement sounds at first that the wise mancannot receive a \vrong or insult. For it makes allthe difference whether you assert that he is beyondthe influence of resentment or of wrong. If you meanthat he will bear it patiently, he enjoys no specialprivilege, only the common grace of patience, whichwe may leam by having much to bear. If you meanthat he never will be wronged, that is, that no man