Key Arguments

• He claims that what upsets 'people who are morally unenlightened' is 'their failure to acquire the habit of contentment with the spirit. They have instead been preoccupied by the body.'
• By contrast, 'a man of noble and enlightened character separates body from spirit and has just as much to do with the former, the frail and complaining part of our nature, as is necessary and no more, and a lot to do with the better, the divine element.'
• Regarding loss of customary pleasures (food, drink), he notes that initial abstinence is 'Tiresome... in the first stages' but 'Later, as the organs of appetite decline in strength with exhaustion, the cravings die down... The desires themselves die away.'
• He concludes that 'there is nothing harsh about having to do without things for which you have ceased to have any craving,' implying that spiritual orientation and habituation can neutralize the distress of lost pleasures.

Source Quotes

So there is the comforting thing about extremities of pain: if you feel it too much you are bound to stop feeling it. What in fact makes people who are morally unenlightened upset by the experience of physical distress is their failure to acquire the habit of contentment with the spirit. They have instead been preoccupied by the body. That is why a man of noble and enlightened character separates body from spirit and has just as much to do with the former, the frail and complaining part of our nature, as is necessary and no more, and a lot to do with the better, the divine element.

They have instead been preoccupied by the body. That is why a man of noble and enlightened character separates body from spirit and has just as much to do with the former, the frail and complaining part of our nature, as is necessary and no more, and a lot to do with the better, the divine element. ‘But it’s hard having to do without pleasures we’re used to, having to give up food and go thirsty as well as hungry.’

‘But it’s hard having to do without pleasures we’re used to, having to give up food and go thirsty as well as hungry.’ Tiresome it is in the first stages of abstinence. Later, as the organs of appetite decline in strength with exhaustion, the cravings die down; thereafter the stomach becomes fussy, unable to stand things it could never have enough of before. The desires themselves die away.

Later, as the organs of appetite decline in strength with exhaustion, the cravings die down; thereafter the stomach becomes fussy, unable to stand things it could never have enough of before. The desires themselves die away. And there is nothing harsh about having to do without things for which you have ceased to have any craving.

The desires themselves die away. And there is nothing harsh about having to do without things for which you have ceased to have any craving. Another point is that every pain leaves off altogether, or at least falls off in intensity, from time to time.

Key Concepts

• What in fact makes people who are morally unenlightened upset by the experience of physical distress is their failure to acquire the habit of contentment with the spirit. They have instead been preoccupied by the body.
• a man of noble and enlightened character separates body from spirit and has just as much to do with the former, the frail and complaining part of our nature, as is necessary and no more, and a lot to do with the better, the divine element.
• Tiresome it is in the first stages of abstinence. Later, as the organs of appetite decline in strength with exhaustion, the cravings die down;
• The desires themselves die away.
• there is nothing harsh about having to do without things for which you have ceased to have any craving.

Context

Midway through Letter LXXVIII, having discussed the nature of pain, Seneca contrasts the bodily preoccupation of the many with the spiritual focus of the wise, especially when illness curtails pleasures.