Keep your head. Seneca, Epistles 2.13.13
Seneca advises us to have our own
opinions, even when they are wrong. If you let others dictate to you
against your own judgment, you lose the ability to control your
emotions (especially fear). Even if you are persuaded by a belief not
your own, make it yours before you dare to embrace it. That way you
will not refer to others to learn how you should feel about it. The
wisdom of crowds is always to be doubted, especially when history
vindicates it (or appears to do so, anyway).
Ergo
spem ac metum examina, et quotiens incerta erunt omnia, tibi fave:
crede quod mavis. Si plures habebit sententias metus, nihilominus in
hanc partem potius inclina et perturbare te desine ac subinde hoc in
animo volve, maiorem partem mortalium, cum illi nec sit quicquam mali
nec pro certo futurum sit, aestuare ac discurrere.
Nemo
enim resistit sibi, cum coepit impelli, nec timorem suum redigit ad
verum; nemo dicit
vanus auctor est, vanus aut finxit aut credidit. Damus
nos referendis
(†).
Expavescimus
dubia pro certis.
Non
servamus modum rerum.
Statim
in timorem venit scrupulus.
Therefore,
check your fear and your hope, and whenever things become uncertain,
do yourself a favor: believe what you prefer. If fear offers you more
persuasive reasons than other motives, still you should maintain your
course, avoiding the temptation to become anxious. Keep this thought
constantly in your mind, that the greater part of mortals rages and
rants even when there is no evil present, nor any guarantee that one
will appear in future. No one in the panicked herd resists when he
begins to be driven. No one leads his fear back to reality. No one
says, "The author of this panic is an empty fool; he makes it
from nothing, or inherits it from no sound reason." Instead, we
give ourselves over to the herd that must be driven back. We lose our
minds with dread over doubts, not certainties. We hold no fixed
position in the midst of things. The least difficulty we encounter
delivers us instantly to terror.
---
(†)
I think referendis,
the reading of the MSS, makes more sense in context than the
emendation proposed by Bücheler:
aurae
ferendos.
His
reading would yield something like, "We give ourselves over to
be driven by the wind," changing the metaphor introduced by
redigit
instead of agreeing with it, as referendis
does.