Note: This post is part of a weekly series called ‘Seneca Sundays’. Each week, I reflect on one of Seneca’s ‘Moral Letters to Lucilius’, and summarise the most practical and useful principles to share with you.
In this short letter, Seneca encourages us to identify our own faults with objectivity, as this is the only way to self improvement. He goes on to say that we must share what we learn with others; we must not keep new-found wisdom to ourselves.
1. Being able to identify our own faults is evidence we’re getting better
Seneca was constantly working to become a better person.
“I do not indulge the hope that there are no elements left in me which need to be changed. Of course there are many that should be made more compact, or made thinner, or be brought into greater prominence. And indeed this very fact is proof that my spirit is altered into something better, – that it can see its own faults, of which it was previously ignorant”.
Ever met someone who can do no wrong? A person who never owns up to their mistakes? Such people are ignorant about—or at least not willing to confront—their flaws, making it impossible for them to improve.
It takes skill to recognise our faults, and to analyse them objectively, as this is the only way we can get better.
2. And when we learn, we must share
“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.”
Since day one, this blog has been a place to pen down what I’ve been noticing in the world around me. Mistakes and all. And although I write for my own learning, I’m thrilled that by sharing them, they resonate with a small group of readers.
I love it when I receive your emails with feedback, suggestions for posts, and your own tangential or related learnings. It’s this mutual sharing that makes blogging and sharing a richer experience.
3. Learn from the patterns of those who are wiser than you
Seneca says that although we can learn by reading and memorising principles, it’s better to get close to the action.
Seneca gave good examples too: Plato learnt by being close to Socrates, and so did Aristotle by being close to Plato.
We should seek out those we admire—those who have proven themselves virtuous—and spend as much time with them as possible. We should get close enough to them to observe the patterns in their daily lives and how they conduct themselves because “the living voice and the intimacy of a common life will help you more than the written word.”