Letters on Ethics by Seneca, 6-7-8-10

Letters on Ethics by Seneca, 6-9

₍₁₎

Letter 6

On sharing knowledge

Multiple Choice

According to Seneca, what is the process of improving one's self?

• transformation

• rebirth

• purification

6.4.1

I wish to share my transformation with you. Thus I would begin to have more confidence in our friendship. For it would then be true friendship; such as no hope, no fear, no self-interest can sever. That is a friendship that stays with people until they die, and that people die for. 

Multiple Select

According to Seneca, what are the things that can sever a friendship that's not genuine?

• Expectation

• Self-interest

• Desperation

• Fear

Multiple Choice

It is an indication that the mind has reached a better place when it perceives ___ in itself that previously went unrecognised.

• skills

• fears

• faults

6.3

In an ideal friendship, "Souls are drawn together by equal inclinations into a companionship of honourable intentions. For they know that everything they have is held in common, and especially their trials and troubles."

6.4.2

Nothing will ever please me, not even what is remarkably beneficial, if I have learned it for myself only. If wisdom were given to me with the condition that I should keep it hidden and never express it to anyone else, I should refuse it. ₍₂₎

7.11

I write this not for the many but for you: you and I are enough of an audience for one another. 

Multiple Choice

What is the best way to learn Stoic principles?

• Read Stoic texts

• To learn by example

6.6

I don't summon you to me only for your own benefit. It is for my benefit as well: we can assist each other greatly. ₍₃₎

Fill in the Blanks

Letter 7

On crowds

7.1

Never do I return home with the character I had when I left; always there is something I had forced to be calmed within me that is now stirred up again, something I had gotten rid of that has returned. 

As with a sick person, who is so affected by a condition that they cannot be taken outdoors without suffering a relapse, so it is with us: our souls are recovering from a lingering disease.

Multiple Select

According to Letter 7.2, why is contact with the many is harmful?

• They distract us from the good

• They contaminate us with vices

• They make vices attractive

• They waste our time

7.5

What did you do, poor fellow, to make you deserve to watch this cruelty? 

Multiple Select

When our character is under attack from the outside influence, what are we supposed to do?

• Hate the society

• Associate with those who will improve you

• Welcome those whom you can improve

• Imitate the majority since you cannot go against the flow

• Retreat into your self

7.12

Take these words to heart so that you may scorn the pleasure that comes from the praise of the many. Suppose many people praise you; does it give you any reason to be satisfied with yourself if you are someone many people can understand? Your good qualities should face inwards. 

Multiple Select

What should our attitude be when we are appreciated by many?

• Scorn the pleasure that comes from the praise

• Enjoy the attention

• Try to be worthy of praise

• Focus on improving your character

Letter 8

On the Philosopher's seclusion

Letter 8.2

I have withdrawn not only from society but from affairs, and especially from my own affairs. The work that I am doing is for later generations: it is they who can benefit from what I write. Writing some ideas that may be of assistance to them, like the recipes for useful remedies. The right path, which I myself discovered late in life when weary from wandering, I now point out to others.

8.4

Chasing after blessings of the fortune leads us to a cliff. To leave such an exalted life, you have to fall. Moreover, once prosperity begins to drive us, we cannot even resist.

We could wish to fall only once, or at least to fall from an upright position, but we are not allowed. Fortune does not only overturn us: [like a horse] it throws the rider over its head, and then smashes us.

Multiple Choice

Who Seneca likes to plunder often?

• Aristotle

• Epicurus

• Plato

• Socrates

Multiple Choice

If you wish to attain true liberty, you must become the servant of ___.

• wisdom

• your soul

• Epicurus

• Philosophy

• the sage

8.10

Whatever comes by wishing is not your possession. 

[Still alien is whatever you have gained by coveting.]

- Epicurus

What Fortune makes yours is not really your own.

The good that can be given, can be taken away.

- Lucilius Junior

Letter 10

On living with your self

10.1

Avoid the crowd; avoid the company of a few; avoid even a single companion. There is no one with whom I would be willing to share you. And see what opinion I have of you: I dare to entrust you to your own self.

Letter 10.4

I remember how courageously you made a certain declaration, what strength there was in your words. Take care that nothing keeps you down. Ask for excellence of mind and of soul, and only after that for the health of your body. You should also offer such prayers over and over again. Be bold in your requests to God, for you are not going to ask for anything that belongs to someone else.

Multiple Choice

According to Seneca, what should we hope and wish for the most?

• Companions

• A healthy body

• Wealth

• Knowledge

• Excellence of mind and soul

Multiple Select

Which of these are Stoic philosophers?

• Hecaton of Rhodes

• Zeno of Citium

• Cleanthes of Assos

• Theophrastus

• Crates of Thebes

Resources

• (1) Nero and Seneca by Eduardo Barrón González

• (2) Magic Book by Evgeni Starostin _{https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JlndND}

• (3) Dark Souls 3