Letters from a Stoic

Discover Seneca's greatest legacy: Letters from a Stoic.

When Seneca, a stoic philosopher and advisor in Ancient Rome for emperor Nero, wrote these moral letters to Lucilius Junior, the then procurator of Sicily, he didn’t know he would soon be forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in a conspiracy to assassinate the emperor, in which he was probably innocent.

He left these timeless letters on the morals of a happy life, benefits, anger, and clemency.

"May I not inquire who is the Master-Builder of this universe?

Am I not to ask these questions? Must I be ignorant of the heights whence I have descended? Whether I am to see this world but once, or to be born many times? What is my destination afterwards? What abode awaits my soul on its release from the laws of slavery among men? Do you forbid me to have a share in heaven?

No, I am above such an existence; I was born to a greater destiny than to be a mere chattel of my body, and I regard this body as nothing but a chain which manacles my freedom. Therefore, I offer it as a sort of buffer to fortune and shall allow no wound to penetrate through to my soul. For my body is the only part of me which can suffer injury. In this dwelling, which is exposed to peril, my soul lives free...."

Listeners who enjoyed Marcus Aurelius' and Epictetus' writings will enjoy the classic book Letters from a Stoic. An engaging collection of ancient wisdom.