Key ideas 

• Don’t think of anything as good or bad, unless it has something to do with virtue or vice. 
• Remain unmoved by good and evil. 
• Create your good out of what is good. 
• Virtue promises joy. 
• You will not be subject to any restraint. 
• You will want nothing. 
• You will be free, safe, and unharmed. 
• You will fail at nothing you attempt. 
• You will not be barred from anything. 
• Everything will turn out the way you want it. 
• You will face no misfortune. 
• Nothing will happen to you except what you expect and hope for. 

What virtue asks us to do 

True happiness consists in virtue. And what does this virtue ask you to do? This: Don’t think of anything as good or bad, unless it has something to do with virtue or vice; remain unmoved by good and evil and create your good out of what is good. 

What virtue promises 

What reward does virtue promise for all this? A big one, equal to the ones enjoyed by the gods. You will not be subject to any restraint. You will want nothing. You will be free, safe, and unharmed. You will fail at nothing you attempt. You will not be barred from anything. Everything will turn out the way you want it. You will face no misfortune. Nothing will happen to you except what you expect and hope for. 

“What! Is virtue alone enough to make you happy?” 

Why, of course! Complete and divine virtue such as this is not only enough, but more than enough. When you are beyond any desire, what can you possibly lack? If all you need is within yourself, how can you need anything from outside? However, you are only on the road to virtue and may still need some luck while you are still struggling among your human interests, untying that knot and all the bonds that tie you to mortality. 

What, then, is the difference between them? Isn’t it that some are tied more or less tightly by these bonds and some have even tied themselves? However, one who has made progress towards the upper regions and raised herself upwards drags a looser chain. Although not yet free, she is as good as free. 

Think about this 

When you are beyond any desire, what can you possibly lack? If all you need is within yourself, how can you need anything from outside? 

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In the SIXTEENTH chapter of his discourse On The Happy Life, Seneca tells us that, to be happy, we should stop pursuing pleasure, and instead pursue virtue. This is an excerpt from Stoic Happiness, a plain English version of Seneca’s On the Happy Life, published by The Stoic Gym. 

https://amzn.to/2I0mbVW 

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