"Judging by what you write me, and by what I hear, I am forming a good opinion regarding your future. You do not run hither and thither and distract yourself by changing your abode; for such restlessness is the sign of a disordered spirit. The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company. Be careful, however, lest this reading of many authors and books of every sort may tend to make you discursive and unsteady. You must linger among a limited number of master-thinkers, and digest their works, if you would derive ideas which shall win firm hold in your mind. Everywhere means nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends. And the same thing must hold true of men who seek intimate acquaintance with no single author, but visit them all in a hasty and hurried manner. Food does no good and is not assimilated into the body if it leaves the stomach as soon as it is eaten; nothing hinders a cure so much as frequent change of medicine; no wound will heal when one salve is tried after another; a plant which is often moved can never grow strong. There is nothing so efficacious that it can be helpful while it is being shifted about. And in reading of many books is distraction."
My perception of the Romans of Seneca's time and class is that they were liesured and constantly in search of novelty. They were trying to fill up their lives with new places, exotic food, and ALL the ideas.
Is that bad? I don't know, but I DO know that I live in such a time myself, and I live in something like such a class. I don't have servants and I do have a job, but there are similarities.
I haven't found flitting from place to place and food to food to be very satisfying, and allthough I enjoy jumping from book to book I find that when I take Seneca's advice and really study just one I get a lot more out of it. When I flit I barely remember any of it.
More on this at the dabbalism reddit...
No comments:
Post a Comment