Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

i6SENECAThe young enthusiast besieged, so he tells us, thedoor of Attains' classroom ;he was always thefirst to enter when it was opened, and the lastto leave. Nor was this all. Attains was aman of easy access, most friendly disposedtowards his pupils, whose ingenuous advanceshe was ever ready to meet more than half-way.The young Seneca would walk with him anddraw him into discussion on subjects of perennialinterest. It was Attalus, he tells us, who taughthim to distinguish between reality and appearances,between the eloquence of truth and thatof display, between intrinsic beauty and the emptysound of swelling words. He would pour contemptalike on luxury and on avarice ;he wouldextol a chaste body, a sober table, a mind purifiednot only from unlawful but even from superfluouspleasures. He told his pupils that those whocame to a philosopher's lectures merely as anagreeable way of passing the time, to hear andnot to learn, to listen to eloquent phrases andingenious conceits, without any intention ofshaping anew the conduct of their life, wouldderive no profit from philosophy.However transitory [Seneca afterwards wrote] mightbe on many the effect of such exhortations, yet theminds of the young being tender and impressionable,if the master is sincere and solely occupied with thegood of his pupils his words will have lasting effects.At all events [he adds] this was true in my case. Myadmiration for him was boundless, and when I heardhim speak of the faults, the errors, and the evils of life,I often was moved with compassion for mankind, andhe seemed to me more than human.