Deep Spirits

This tag is adapted from Epistle 82 by Seneca the Younger. He wrote a bundle of 124 letters at the end of his life, ‘The Epistulae morales ad Lucillium’.
The letters start with the phrase "Seneca Lucilio suo salutem"- ‘Seneca greets his Lucilius’. It is said that Lucillius was at that time the Governor of Sicily, although known only through Seneca’s writings. Those letters give an insight into the daily life in ancient Rome and present his Stoic philosophy.
Montaigne, also known as “French Seneca” confessed himself that his work is owed to Seneca and Plutarch.
Seneca’s book ‘On Benefyting’, published in English in 1578, greatly influenced Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”. Another source for Shakespeare was “Rosalynde” written by Thomas Lodge in 1614, who by the way published his translation of the Complete Moral Works of Seneca.
Having all these in mind I am curious about your opinion what this tag means for you.

mirjana wrote:

‘Life without learning is death’

....
Having all these in mind I am curious about your opinion what this tag means for you.

Whether with that in mind or not, it has a similar meaning to Socrates' "The unexamined life is not worth living.", or rather:


We are here to examine, re-examine and learn. To feel, to taste, to touch, to hear, to smell and through all our experiences, abstract or practical, draw conclusions, find meaning for ourselves and become the best that we can be. Not by forcing or suppressing anything, but through embracing who we truly are, while always striving to step forward.

Those who refuse to learn, those who stagnate, might as well be dead.

Sabina wrote:Whether with that in mind or not, it has a similar meaning to Socrates' "The unexamined life is not worth living.", or rather:

"The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being."

We are here to examine, re-examine and learn. To feel, to taste, to touch, to hear, to smell and through all our experiences, abstract or practical, draw conclusions, find meaning for ourselves and become the best that we can be. Not by forcing or suppressing anything, but through embracing who we truly are, while always striving to step forward.

Those who refuse to learn, those who stagnate, might as well be dead.

"The spirit cannot live without the breath of change."

~ Sabina Nore

Sabina,
I like your answer very much and agree completely. Your quote is excellent and inspired me to ask the following:

- What is the driving force toward changes and what is the one that stops such needs?

mirjana wrote:- What is the driving force toward changes and what is the one that stops such needs?

The reason for denial or rejection of life is usually fear.
In some cases, that fear is additionally elaborated on and complicated through an introduction of life philosophies which are meant to explain or illustrate a person's "right to stagnation".

What is the driving force toward changes?
That is a nice question.
I would say that the inspiration or the motivation for growth comes from love, which begins with self-love.

That also works in reverse. A lack of self-love can provoke or "inspire" a suicide, so giving up life as a choice, which brings us back to Seneca's quote: "Life without learning is death".



Another important point is that some people who don't love themselves simply try to please others, be overly agreeable, in order to find love that way.
Anyone who has a healthy love for self has no need to be overly agreeable, and no fear of not being loved.

My dear Mirjana,

Very nice, thought provoking post and question. In so posting, you are promoting life, in the sense of the title of the post, Life without learning is death. You ask us to think, and through thinking, one learns, and through learning, one changes, and, through changing, assuming no change after death, one realizes he is alive.

When I initially read the title of the post, I immediately thought of the difference in a stagnant pond contrasted with a flowing stream or river. The river is flowing, moving, full of life, constantly changing. The pond, though perhaps full of life, can have its life overtaken by certain growths, algae, whatever, that will strangle the true life from the pond. The river avoids this by change, constant growth, sweeping away that which may strangle overall growth and allowing the aspects of it that want to change, that need change for life, to continue.

There is an old saying, "You can never step in the same river twice." The location of the river may not change, but the river itself is ever changing. Where you may have stepped yesterday or last week or last year is no longer there. That water, the components that defined the river at that moment in time are no longer there; they have been replaced by the growth of the river, as one constantly changing. Learning is change, and change is life.

Then again, there is another Latin phrase I love, "Noli arrogantium iniurias pati (don't let the bastards grind you down)." Which phrased another way could be, "Don't let the bastards turn you into a pond."

Good comparisons and Kudos for additional latin phrase. Very motivating

PS to my last post:



When compared with the universal consciousness our little knowledge is nothing however we think about it. Therefore the wisest are aware that they know very little.



The whole life is learning and it is never enough of that.