The Stoic Magazine Library

In this letter addressed to his friend Lucilius, Seneca describes why a self-sufficient person still needs friends. He says that the wise, even though they are self-sufficient, want friends, if only to practice the noble qualitt of friendship.

Every ship pilot is good when the waters are calm, but it is the storm that both tests and improves his skills. And what is the fun in always navigating flat waters?

Responding to our environment in an emotional manner is antithetical to Stoic principles, where the need of self-reliance through rational thinking is paramount.

The less we depend on external things, the more we build our inner reserves of strength and resilience.

Self-reliance means cutting the invisible cords that attach us to the whims of Fate.

I prefer to be an upstander, someone who sticks up for others in the face of injustice, someone who takes action to lessen another’s suffering. The key to being an upstander is self-reliance.