The mind, our only real possession. Seneca, Epistles 4.41.7-8
Seneca
finishes his epistle on the human mind, arguing that reason is our
mind's highest expression and that its perfection lies ultimately
with the individual rather than the group, which he sees as having a
broadly negative effect upon our ability to make good
choices—rational choices that facilitate a natural life for human
beings such as we are. (Interesting in light of Unamuno's
observations in Life 2.5,
2.6.)
Nemo
gloriari nisi suo debet. Vitem laudamus si fructu palmites onerat, si
ipsa pondera (†) ad terram eorum quae tulit
adminicula deducit: num quis huic illam praeferret vitem cui aureae
uvae, aurea folia dependent? Propria virtus est in vite fertilitas;
in homine quoque id laudandum est quod ipsius est. Familiam
formosam habet et domum pulchram, multum serit, multum fenerat: nihil
horum in ipso est sed circa ipsum. Lauda in illo quod nec eripi
potest nec dari, quod proprium hominis est. Quaeris quid sit? animus
et ratio in animo perfecta. Rationale enim animal est homo;
consummatur itaque bonum eius, si id implevit cui nascitur. Quid est
autem quod ab illo ratio haec exigat? rem facillimam, secundum
naturam suam vivere. Sed hanc difficilem facit communis insania: in
vitia alter alterum trudimus. Quomodo autem revocari ad salutem
possunt quos nemo retinet, populus impellit? Vale.
No
one should glory save in that which is properly his own. We praise
the vine if it loads its tendrils with fruit, if its weight casts our
props down to the earth that brought it forth. Who in the world would
pass this up for a vine heavy with golden grapes, hanging low with
gilded leaves? Fertility is the virtue native to vines; in mankind we
must also praise what properly belongs, what is integral to the
person possessing it. Someone has a beautiful family and a lovely
home. He sows much, makes many loans to others. But none of these
things is really his; they are merely around him. Praise in him that
which cannot be snatched away nor given, the thing that is his
properly human possession. You ask what it is? His mind, and within
it a rational faculty perfectly formed and finished. Man is a
rational animal; his final and best form is achieved when he reaches
the end unto which he is born. What does this rational faculty demand
from him? What task does it lay upon him? A most easy one: that he
live according to his own nature. But our common madness makes this
work difficult. We impel one another to vices. How can they be
recalled to safety whom nobody restrains, as the mob drives them on?
Farewell.
---
(†)
Erasmus emends the MSS to read ipsa pondere
here. Certainly an easier reading.