Letters from a Stoic

Synopsis

A selection of the moral letters Seneca, the Roman statesman and Stoic philosopher, wrote to his friend Lucilius near the end of his life. They cover practical ethics, the use of time, friendship, the management of fear, and the proper relationship to wealth and death.

Editorial review

Seneca is the Stoic you read when you want to be persuaded; Marcus is the one you read when you've already decided. The Letters are 124 short essays disguised as correspondence, and almost any one of them can serve as a small-scale therapy session.

Key takeaways

• 1

  Time is the only currency that cannot be replaced.

• 2

  Treat each day as a complete life in miniature.

• 3

  Wealth is best held loosely; rehearsing its loss is freedom.

• 4

  Friendship is for the truth, not for comfort.