Notes on Seneca's Selected Essays

On the Happy Life

Seneca defines the happy life as possessing a soul that is free, upright, and steadfast — one liberated from all fear and desire (p. 63). For him, happiness is not found in outwardly splendid places, but in what lies close at hand around us. To attain happiness (or the highest good), he argues that one must (1) find one’s own destination and the right path to reach it, rather than following the paths of others, and (2) not cling to chance or external circumstances.

He criticizes those who misuse Epicurus’s passive hedonism to glorify pleasure with the following argument: pleasure is a result that follows from the pursuit of reason — it cannot become an end in itself.

Voices appear that criticize Seneca for not practicing what he preaches — his philosophy remaining unrealized in reality, and his words and actions being at odds. He responds as follows:

1. He counters by saying that he “spoke not of how he currently lives, but of how one ought to live going forward; he admits he is not a great man, but strives only to become somewhat better than a wicked one.”

1. He further cautions that “he is not saying one should neglect wealth or health, but that one should not be anxious about losing them.”

“나는 부를 소유하지만, 당신은 부에 소유당한 것이다.” (p. 100, Korean ed.)

Seneca does not grieve when he loses his wealth — because “the wise man does not worry about the future, for he lives happily in the present” (p. 100).

On Providence

Seneca believes that everything does not happen by chance — that there are causes — and argues that one must not doubt providence but must overcome its fears and hardships.

“선한 사람은 어려운 일을 두려워하거나 자신의 운명을 원망하지 않고, 자신에게 일어나는 모든 일을 유익한 관점에서 보고 좋은 쪽으로 바꿉니다.” (p. 130, Korean ed.)

“운명은 자신의 힘을 보이고자 불굴의 용기로 결코 물러서지 않을 이들을 찾아갑니다.” (p. 135, Korean ed.)

He further argues that the good man is the disciple of the gods and their true offspring — a claim in which we can observe clear similarities to Christian philosophy.

“선한 사람과 신들 사이에는 미덕을 기반으로 한 사랑이 있기 때문입니다. 여기서 말하는 ‘사랑’이란 단순한 감정이 아니라, 필연성과 유사성에서 비롯된 관계입니다.” (p. 129, Korean ed.)

“선한 사람은 신의 제자이자 열렬한 모방자이며 진정한 자손입니다.” (p. 129, Korean ed.)

Thus, the good man must entrust himself to fate. Jesus (the good man) practiced this very thing by calmly accepting his destined death on the cross. This parallels Socrates, who drank the hemlock on charges of corrupting the youth of Athens — receiving it as though it were a medicine for immortality. In the Phaedo, he told his disciples not to grieve, for this was a passage toward immortal life (p. 139). This steadfastness of spirit that does not waver even in the face of fate is called constantia — one of the most important virtues in Stoic philosophy.

“신은 인정하고 사랑하는 이들을 단련하고 시험하며 훈련하지만, 아끼고 총애하는 듯 보이는 이들은 오히려 불행 앞에 내버려 둡니다.” (p. 142, Korean ed.)

This calls to mind Matthew 10:39: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”

On Leisure

Seneca argues that the wise man, rather than following what the majority pursues, should withdraw into solitude — which he sees not as abandoning the state, but as rendering it service — and devote himself to the contemplation of philosophical questions.

“사람은 어린 시절부터 진리를 탐구하는 일에 완전히 몰두하여, 올바른 삶의 방식을 찾고 이를 묵묵히 실천해 나아가야 합니다.” (p. 111, Korean ed.)

“은둔은 그들이 소수만을 모아 가르치는 것이 아니라 모든 민족의 모든 사람을 가르치는 길이 됩니다.” (p. 119, Korean ed.)

I find this to be in line with Bertrand Russell’s reasoning for preserving solitude, as described in his essay Unpopular Essays.

Consolation to Marcia

Seneca writes a letter of consolation to Marcia, urging her to guard against sinking endlessly into grief and sorrow. The following piece, “Consolation to His Mother Helvia,” carries a similar message — a letter from the exiled Seneca to his mother, asking her not to worry about her son.

On the Shortness of Life

Seneca holds that life is not short — it is we ourselves who waste the time we are given. He therefore says that “we live only the tiniest fraction of the life allotted to us” (p. 15). He criticizes those who squander all their time in drink and lust. Those who live such lives “have not lived long, but merely existed long” (p. 27) — unaware that learning both to live and to die is something one must pursue throughout one’s entire lifetime. Some say they will begin their true life in old age, but Seneca views this as a foolish delusion in the face of a death that could arrive at any moment.

He asks us: is it right to complain that others give us no time, when we cannot even carve out time for ourselves? Have we ever truly lived according to plan? Have we ever lived as our true selves? Rather than suffering in the present while believing we will one day obtain what we desire, he encourages us to spend all our time on ourselves rather than on others. Moreover, only those who spend their time in the pursuit of wisdom — not in the accumulation of useless knowledge — are truly at leisure, and only they truly live. Some might ask whether we cannot at least give time to those we love, but Seneca answers sharply: “that time only flows away from you — it does not make the other’s life any longer” (p. 28).

“자기 인생이 얼마나 짧은지 알고자 한다면, 지금까지 살아온 삶 중, 온전히 당신의 것이었던 시간이 얼마나 되는지 헤아려 보십시오.” (p. 51, Korean ed.)

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References

1. Seneca, L. A. On the Shortness of Life (Hyundae Jiseong, Seoul, 2025).