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Single Idea 13550
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 2. Happiness / a. Nature of happiness
]
Full Idea
To be always happy and to pass through life without any mental distress is to lack knowledge of one half of nature.
Gist of Idea
To be always happy is to lack knowledge of one half of nature
Source
Seneca the Younger (On Providence [c.60], §4)
Book Ref
Seneca: 'Dialogues and Essays', ed/tr. Davie,John [Penguin 2007], p.10
A Reaction
These kind of paradoxes plague virtue theory, and any theory which aims at an ideal. Heaven, for example, seems to have no problems to solve, which spells boredom. The fascination of corrupt people is their superior knowledge of the world.
The
48 ideas
from Seneca the Younger
13290
|
One joy of learning is making teaching possible
[Seneca]
|
13293
|
What philosophy offers humanity is guidance
[Seneca]
|
13292
|
Selfishness does not produce happiness; to live for yourself, live for others
[Seneca]
|
13295
|
Wise people escape necessity by willing it
[Seneca]
|
13294
|
We know death, which is like before birth; ceasing to be and never beginning are the same
[Seneca]
|
13297
|
To the four causes Plato adds a fifth, the idea which guided the event
[Seneca]
|
13301
|
We are scared of death - except when we are immersed in pleasure!
[Seneca]
|
13299
|
Living is nothing wonderful; what matters is to die well
[Seneca]
|
13300
|
It is as silly to lament ceasing to be as to lament not having lived in the remote past
[Seneca]
|
13302
|
Life is like a play - it is the quality that matters, not the length
[Seneca]
|
13298
|
Suicide may be appropriate even when it is not urgent, if there are few reasons against it
[Seneca]
|
13303
|
A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is
[Seneca]
|
13305
|
Character is ruined by not looking back over our pasts, since the future rests on the past
[Seneca]
|
13312
|
Excessive curiosity is a form of intemperance
[Seneca]
|
13307
|
If everything can be measured, try measuring the size of a man's soul
[Seneca]
|
13310
|
Wisdom does not lie in books, and unread people can also become wise
[Seneca]
|
13309
|
That something is a necessary condition of something else doesn't mean it caused it
[Seneca]
|
13313
|
Even philosophers have got bogged down in analysing tiny bits of language
[Seneca]
|
13308
|
It's no good winning lots of fights, if you are then conquered by your own temper
[Seneca]
|
13311
|
Does time exist on its own? Did anything precede it? Did it pre-exist the cosmos?
[Seneca]
|
13315
|
To govern used to mean to serve, not to rule; rulers did not test their powers over those who bestowed it
[Seneca]
|
13317
|
Philosophy aims at happiness
[Seneca]
|
13318
|
Nature doesn't give us virtue; we must unremittingly pursue it, as a training and an art
[Seneca]
|
13319
|
If we control our own death, no one has power over us
[Seneca]
|
13324
|
Living contrary to nature is like rowing against the stream
[Seneca]
|
13321
|
Is anything sweeter than valuing yourself more when you find you are loved?
[Seneca]
|
13320
|
Sometimes we have a duty not to commit suicide, for those we love
[Seneca]
|
13322
|
Both teachers and pupils should aim at one thing - the improvement of the pupil
[Seneca]
|
21399
|
Referring to a person, and speaking about him, are very different
[Seneca]
|
22239
|
Humans acquired the concept of virtue from an analogy with bodily health and strength
[Seneca, by Allen]
|
13323
|
The whole point of pleasure-seeking is novelty, and abandoning established ways
[Seneca]
|
13325
|
Trouble in life comes from copying other people, which is following convention instead of reason
[Seneca]
|
13552
|
Anger is an extreme vice, threatening sanity, and gripping whole states
[Seneca]
|
13553
|
Anger is a vice which afflicts good men as well as bad
[Seneca]
|
13554
|
True greatness is never allowing events to disturb you
[Seneca]
|
13556
|
Every night I critically review how I have behaved during the day
[Seneca]
|
13548
|
The ocean changes in volume in proportion to the attraction of the moon
[Seneca]
|
13549
|
Nothing bad can happen to a good man
[Seneca]
|
13550
|
To be always happy is to lack knowledge of one half of nature
[Seneca]
|
13557
|
Unfortunately the majority do not tend to favour what is best
[Seneca]
|
13558
|
The supreme good is harmony of spirit
[Seneca]
|
13559
|
I seek virtue, because it is its own reward
[Seneca]
|
13560
|
A wise man is not subservient to anything
[Seneca]
|
13561
|
Virtue is always moderate, so excess need not be feared
[Seneca]
|
13562
|
It is shameful to not even recognise your own slaves
[Seneca]
|
13563
|
Why does your wife wear in her ears the income of a wealthy house?
[Seneca]
|
13564
|
There is far more scope for virtue if you are wealthy; poverty only allows endurance
[Seneca]
|
13565
|
If wealth was a good, it would make men good
[Seneca]
|