Moral Letters to Lucilius (Epistulae morales ad Lucilium)

Growing old, getting educated, wealthy, and married may satisfy most of our worldly needs, but satisfaction of one specific need has an inverse relationship with our age, and that is the need for getting advice from our friends and acquaintances. For some reason, our entourage deprive us from their advice when we pass certain age thresholds, even if they find us in a desperate need for it. However, such a reticence on the part of our family, friends and acquaintances should not give us the illusion of being perfect and should not deter us from searching for substitutes.

Not surprisingly, for grown-ups, books can make excellent substitutes for such a want. One such book, which I recently read, is Seneca’s “Moral Letters to Lucilius” also translated as “Letters from a Stoic”.

This book shares a notable feature with a few other excellent books in that it is the distilled wisdom of an aged and experienced statesman, written when the author’s life was drawing to a close. These genres are often replete with fascinatingly profound insights about life. Overall, no matter how good you are, this book will make you a slightly better person.

As an example of why reading the book would make the world a better place, let me provide a reason from the book for why I am introducing this book to you. On sharing knowledge, the book reads:

“Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to myself. And if wisdom were given me under the express condition that it must be kept hidden and not uttered, I should refuse it. No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.”

One great feature of the book is that almost all 124 letters are stand-alone and can be read separately, making it a great bedtime-book choice.

Fortunately, the book is in public domain. On the left-hand column of this webpage, under Download/Print you can download the book in the format of your choice.

In the end, I am willing to bet that reading a letter a day would keep anguish away.