Seeing as I'm new to blogging, I thought I'd try to do something regulary. So I'm now starting #senecasunday, where, every sunday, I will be posting and maybe discussing a quote/passage from the famous stoic philosopher Seneca.
I will be taking the text from a german/latin version of the complete philosophical writings of seneca und translate it into english based on the german translation (because my latin isn't that good). But I'll also post it in german and in latin for those of you who can understand it.
From the 15th letter to Seneca's friend Lucilius:
| latin | german | english |
|---|---|---|
| Recte nos dicimus: si philosopharis, bene est. Valere enim hoc demum est; sine hoc aeger est animus: corpus quoque, etiam si magnas habet vires, non aliter quam furiosi aut phrenetici validum est. | Richtig sagen wir: "Wenn du philosophierst, ist es gut". Gesund zu sein ist nämlich eigentlich erst dieses; ohne Philosophieren ist krank die Seele: auch der Körper, selbst wenn er große Kräfte hat, ist nicht anders als der eines Rasenden oder Wahnsinnigen gesund. | We say rightfully: When you philosophise, it is good." Being healthy is actually only this; without philosophising, the soul is ill: also the body, even if it had great strenght, would be just as ill as that of a raging man or of a lunatic. |
Or simply put: without philosophy, the soul is ill and even bodily health won't be worth anything to you.
What do you think about that?
Personally, I think there is a lot of truth to that. When I first started to read and practise philosophy, I saw my mental health and my overall life getting much better. It is something which is often laughed at by others, but I'm glad I found my way to philosophy (and not the superficial kind you find in self-help or main stram internet sites) and that my life became so much "healthier".