In this rough and tumble world where everyone seems to be clamoring for more, the words of some the philosophers from time long ago still bring us back to earth – literally.

In this article: Seneca: To Find Peace, Stop Chasing Unfulfillable Desires, Jack Maden, writing in Philosophy Break, November 2023, notes that:

Seneca argues that chasing things like wealth or fame will result in a life that feels perpetually unfinished: “if, no matter how far you travel, there always seems to be some further place you need to reach, that is a sure sign that the desire is contrary to nature…”

PICTURE: Born in 4 BCE, Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher who tutored emperor Nero. Seneca’s influence over Nero declined with time, and in 65 CE Seneca was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity to assassinate Nero — an accusation of which he was likely to have been innocent. His stoic and calm suicide has become the subject of numerous paintings, including the one above by Peter Paul Rubens, c.1614.

In a letter to his friend Lucilius, the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca (4 BCE – 65 CE) reflects on the following statement from the ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus:

    If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live to please the opinions of others, you will never be rich.

Commenting on this observation, Seneca adds:

    For nature has very few demands, whereas the tyranny of opinion is immense.

To illustrate this point, Seneca asks Lucilius to imagine what would occur if he inherited vast wealth:

    Suppose you inherit the estates of many rich men. Fortune carries you well beyond the normal limits of a private income and covers you with gold, clothes you in the finest purple, and brings you to such an apex of luxury and wealth that you can pave your land with marble till you not merely possess riches but actually walk on them. On top of this you have statues, paintings and the ultimate adornments of luxury that any of the arts can devise…

What might the result of all this wealth be? Would Lucilius find long-term happiness at last?

Probably not, Seneca writes. In fact:

    The only thing you will learn from all this will be to want still more.

Indeed, the problem with things like wealth and fame is that they have no limit: there is always more popularity to secure; always more money to accumulate.

What seemed enough yesterday has simply reset today’s baseline: we must have more.

As Seneca writes:

    The desires implanted by nature [i.e. for food, water, human connection] have a limit, but those born from false opinion have no way of reaching an end…

If we measure ourselves according to external status symbols, we will never be satisfied ― for where does it end?

To read the full story visit: Stop Chasing Unfulfillable Desires

While on the philosophy theme, let’s include a reference to a another wise sage.

In: The Life of Epictetus, Neel Burton (Philosophy Today, 24 November 2023) notes that … He was a Roman slave who freed himself and millions of others.

Key points

    Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher, taught focus on what you can control and accept what you cannot.

    After gaining his freedom from slavery, he opened his school and taught the emperor Hadrian.

    His teachings have had a lasting impact on Western thought, influencing thinkers such as Descartes.

Get the full story here: The Life of Epictetus