Tao of Seneca Letter 20 - On Practicing What You Preach

Tao of Seneca Letter 20 - On Practicing What You Preach

Today we are continuing our Tao Of Seneca series, with letter 20 from The Moral Letters To Lucilius.

"If you are in good health and if you think yourself worthy of becoming at last your own master, I am glad.

For the credit will be mine, if I can drag you from the floods in which you are being buffeted without hope of emerging.

This, however, my dear Lucilius, I ask and beg of you, on your part, that you let wisdom sink into your soul, and test your progress, not by mere speech or writings, but by stoutness of heart and decrease of desire.

Prove your words by your deeds.

Far different is the purpose of those who are speech-making and trying to win the approbation of a throng of hearers, far different that of those who allure the ears of young men and idlers by many-sided or fluent argumentation; philosophy teaches us to act, not to speak; it exacts of every man that he should live according to his own standards, that his life should not be out of harmony with his words, and that, further, his inner life should be of one hue and not out of harmony with all his activities.

This, I say, is the highest duty and the highest proof of wisdom, – that deed and word should be in accord, that a man should be equal to himself under all conditions, and always the same. “But,” you reply, “who can maintain this standard?”

Very few, to be sure; but there are some.

It is indeed a hard undertaking, and I do not say that the philosopher can always keep the same pace. But he can always travel the same path.

Observe yourself, then, and see whether your dress and your house are inconsistent, whether you treat yourself lavishly and your family meanly, whether you eat frugal dinners and yet build luxurious houses.

You should lay hold, once for all, upon a single norm to live by, and should regulate your whole life according to this norm.

Some men restrict themselves at home, but strut with swelling port before the public; such discordance is a fault, and it indicates a wavering mind which cannot yet keep its balance.

And I can tell you, further, whence arise this unsteadiness and disagreement of action and purpose; it is because no man resolves upon what he wishes, and, even if he has done so, he does not persist in it, but jumps the track; not only does he change, but he returns and slips back to the conduct which he has abandoned and abjured.

Therefore, to omit the ancient definitions of wisdom and to include the whole manner of human life, I can be satisfied with the following: “What is wisdom? Always desiring the same things, and always refusing the same things.”

In this letter, Seneca talks about practicing what you preach. Less talk that talk. More walk that walk.

So, if you want to hear more about the wisdom that Seneca has to offer, just watch this video.

Tao of Seneca Letter 20 - On Practicing What You Preach

The Tao Of Seneca: Moral Letters To Lucilius

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