91桃色

Why are so many people unhappy when happiness can be attained by anyone who simply lives virtuously? That question prompted Seneca, the great Stoic philosopher of the early Roman empire, to write On the Happy Life, and he continued to seek answers in his Moral Epistles. In How to Live, Seneca biographer and translator James Romm presents vivid new versions of passages from both works, distilling Seneca鈥檚 passionate and inspiring argument for a path to perfect contentment, no matter what befalls us.

As a Stoic, Seneca believed that only ethical virtue leads to happiness; all other goals, including wealth and success, are neutral in their effects鈥攐r, if they torment us with what we haven鈥檛 achieved, sources of unhappiness. For role models, Seneca looks to Socrates, who embodied virtue and reason, and to a hypothetical sage who is always in tune with the divine mind that governs the cosmos. Extolling these paragons with nearly messianic fervor, Seneca urges us to imitate their example.

Featuring an inviting introduction and the original Latin on facing pages, How to Live captures the persuasive power of Seneca鈥檚 argument that the universe wants us to be virtuous鈥攁nd happy.