Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger –  known simply as Seneca – was a Stoic philosopher, statesman, advocate, and man of letters. Despite chronic ill health, Seneca rose to prominence in ancient Rome, eventually becoming an advisor to the Emperor Nero (he, of “fiddling while Rome burned” fame). In 65 CE, Seneca was falsely implicated in a plot against Nero, who, alas, compelled Seneca (and many others) to commit suicide. 

Seneca is probably best known for his Letters From a Stoic, addressed to a younger contemporary named Lucilius (Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium). It seems clear that these letters were essentially “essays in disguise”, aimed more at posterity than at his younger protégé. [Seneca. Letters from a Stoic, translated by Robin Campbell, 1969]. Unless otherwise noted, the following passages are from these letters, based on several translations.  

“We should try by all means to be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a sense in which justice, that is commonly supposed to concern other persons, is not; gratitude returns in large measure unto itself. There is not a man who, when he has benefited his neighbour, has not benefited himself…[However], I am grateful, not in order that my neighbour, provoked by the earlier act of kindness, may be more ready to benefit me, but simply in order that I may perform a most pleasant and beautiful act. I feel grateful, not because it profits me, but because it pleases me… your being grateful is more conducive to your own good than to your neighbour's good. For while your neighbour has had a common, everyday experience, – namely, receiving back the gift which he had bestowed, – you have had a great experience which is the outcome of an utterly happy condition of soul, – to have felt gratitude… Let us therefore avoid being ungrateful, not for the sake of others but for our own sakes…” - Seneca, Moral Letters 81 

“Among the many and diverse errors of those who live reckless and thoughtless lives, almost nothing that I can mention… is more disgraceful than the fact that we do not know how either to give or to receive benefit. Nor is it surprising that among all our many and great vices, none is so common as ingratitude.”

“Of all the evils of wanting more, the worst is ingratitude. Those in public life don’t think about the number of people they have overtaken, but only about the number of people who have overtaken them... That is the trouble with any type of ambition. It does not look back. Not just ambition, but every type of craving is unsteady. They all begin where they should end.”  

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”

“So continually remind yourself, Lucilius, of the many things you have achieved. When you look at all the people out in front of you, think of all the ones behind you. If you want to feel appreciative where the gods and your life are concerned, just think how many people you’ve outdone. Why be concerned about others, come to that, when you’ve outdone your own self? Set yourself a limit which you couldn’t exceed even if you wanted to, and say good-bye at last to those deceptive prizes more precious to those who hope for them than to those who have won them.”

“Today has been unbroken. No one has robbed me of any part of it. It has been wholly divided between my bed and my reading. A very small part of it has been given over to physical exercise – and on this account I’m grateful for old age, for the exercise costs me little trouble…”[Seneca. Letters from a Stoic, translated by Robin Campbell, 1969]

“If you admit to having derived great pleasures, your duty is not to complain about what has been taken away but to be thankful for what you have been given…”

Ron Pies MD, psychiatrist and educator, compares Stoic thought with Buddhism and Judaism (juBuSto), and finds parallels. He is the Author of Three Petalled Rose and many other books. 

---