more on this theme     |     more from this text

Single Idea 13308

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / b. Temperance ]

Full Idea

What's the use of overcoming opponent after opponent in the wrestling or boxing rings if you can be overcome by your temper?

Gist of Idea

It's no good winning lots of fights, if you are then conquered by your own temper

Source

Seneca the Younger (Letters from a Stoic [c.60], 088)

Book Ref

Seneca: 'Letters from a Stoic (Selections)', ed/tr. Campbell,Robin [Penguin 1969], p.156

A Reaction

He has such a nice way of presenting what might be traditional and commonplace ideas. If you see life as a battle, then you should think very carefully about who the opponents are - because they may be hiding within.

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]
13294 We know death, which is like before birth; ceasing to be and never beginning are the same [Seneca]
13295 Wise people escape necessity by willing it [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]
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]
13312 Excessive curiosity is a form of intemperance [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]
13563 Why does your wife wear in her ears the income of a wealthy house? [Seneca]
13562 It is shameful to not even recognise your own slaves [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]