The Book of Seneca 5 · Handed down at Rome, from his letters and essays
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, born at Cordoba in Spain about four years before this era, died outside Rome in the year 65. Philosopher and playwright, and one of the richest men in Rome. In 41 he was exiled to Corsica and after eight years recalled to be tutor to the boy Nero. He became his chief minister, and when nothing further could be done he asked to withdraw. In 65 Nero named him in a conspiracy and ordered him to die; he obeyed, and opened his veins. He left a hundred and twenty-four letters, a number of essays, and nine tragedies. Much of what Seneca said accords with the axioms. Much of what he did did not. Chapter 5 is his own defence, taken from On the Happy Life. One thing more is not from his hand, and this Order records it here rather than cover it over: he was Nero’s tutor; after Nero killed his mother, Seneca drafted the letter justifying it to the senate, and he did not leave.
5.1Before you read my books, hear one thing from me.
5.2I told men to hold wealth lightly. I was enormously rich.
5.3I told men to keep away from power. I was the tutor of a tyrant.
5.4Some say on this account: then there is no need to listen to him.
5.5There is reason in that, but it is not the whole of it.
5.6What you should ask is not "did he do it" but "is what he said true".
5.7What I said is not made truer because I lived it, nor falser because I did not.
5.8Another says: you cannot do it yourself, so what right have you to speak of it?
5.9I answer: I am not a wise man, and I do not intend to pass for one.
5.10Do not measure me against good men. Measure me against bad ones.
5.11I am still far from what I say. I speak, and in speaking I move a little toward it.
5.12What I speak of is not myself. It is the reason of the thing. Follow the reason. You need not follow me.
5.13I set these sentences down not to be treated gently.
5.14I set it down so that you may see: a man can be right and still not live up to it.