Socrates made the same remark to one who complained; he said: “Why do you wonder that globe-trotting does not help you, seeing that you always take yourself with you? The reason which set you wandering is ever at your heels.”
Death will deliver the final judgment in your case. This is what I mean: your debates and learned talks, your maxims gathered from the teachings of the wise, your cultured conversation, – all these afford no proof of the real strength of your soul.
Do you conclude that you are having difficulties with those men about whom you wrote to me? Your greatest difficulty is with yourself; for you are your own stumbling-block. You do not know what you want.
Hold fast, then, to this sound and wholesome rule of life; that you indulge the body only so far as is needful for good health.
In this episode, Simon reads a letter regarding Seneca’s wisdom, seeking the goods of the soul, perfecting our aims, and seeking the most important knowledge.
