C2 · Stoicism · The core
The four virtues
Wisdom, justice, courage and temperance are the virtues the Stoics practise, and they count virtue as the only good.
If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason
Wisdom
In his words, the knowledge of good and evil (George Long, introduction to the Meditations)
Why do you wait? Wisdom comes haphazard to no man.
The only good
The Stoics are especially known for teaching that virtue is the only good for human beings, and that external things like health, wealth and pleasure are not good or bad in themselves [1]. They held that the practice of virtue is enough for a well-lived life [1].
Seneca says it plainly in Letter 76: virtue is the only good, and she walks between the two extremes of fortune with great scorn for both [2].
Virtue itself is therefore the only good; she marches proudly between the two extremes of fortune, with great scorn for both.
Four names
Stoic writers name four chief virtues. George Long's introduction to his translation of Marcus Aurelius lists them as wisdom, the knowledge of good and evil; justice, giving every man his due; fortitude, the enduring of labor and pain; and temperance, moderation in all things [3]. Wikipedia lists the same four with prudence in the place of wisdom: prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice [1].
Marcus himself names them in two places, as justice, truth, temperance and fortitude in one list, and as prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude in another [3].
If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason
Wisdom and justice
Seneca is blunt about wisdom: it does not turn up by accident. Letter 76 is about learning wisdom in old age, and in it he asks why you are waiting, since wisdom comes haphazard to no man [2].
For justice, Marcus writes of holding good to consist in the disposition to justice and the practice of it [3]. Seneca puts a face on it in Letter 47, where he is writing about slaves: they are our fellow-slaves, he says, since Fortune has equal rights over slaves and free men alike [2].
Why do you wait? Wisdom comes haphazard to no man.
not to be hindered by another; and to hold good to consist in the disposition to justice and the practice of it, and in this to let thy desire find its termination.
“Slaves!” No, they are our fellow-slaves, if one reflects that Fortune has equal rights over slaves and free men alike.
Courage and temperance
Marcus offers the image of a promontory that the waves keep breaking against, and that stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it [3]. Seneca writes that a brave man can live in spite of Fortune, and can die in spite of her [2].
For temperance Marcus notes that in the make-up of a rational being he sees no virtue opposed to justice, but he does see one opposed to love of pleasure, and that is temperance [3]. Ryan Holiday's Courage Is Calling studies the cardinal virtues with a focus on courage, and his Wisdom Takes Work completes a series of Stoic Virtues books [4].
Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.
a brave man can live in spite of Fortune, can die in spite of her.
In the constitution of the rational animal I see no virtue which is opposed to justice; but I see a virtue which is opposed to love of pleasure, and that is temperance.
Being, not talking
The practical point comes from Marcus, in one short line: stop talking about what a good man should be, and be one [3].
No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.
Sources
- [1] Wikipedia: StoicismStoicism. Wikipedia, revision 1381864909.
- [2] Moral Letters, tr. Gummere (Loeb)Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius (Epistulae Morales), translated by Richard Mott Gummere (Loeb Classical Library, 1917-25). Wikisource.
- [3] Meditations, tr. Long (1862)Marcus Aurelius, Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Meditations), translated by George Long. Project Gutenberg eBook #15877.
- [4] Wikipedia: Ryan HolidayRyan Holiday. Wikipedia, revision 1380912682.