Humanitext Reader

Seneca the Younger · On Leisure §7.1-7.4

The Three Modes of Life and the Common Need for Contemplation

Passage 7 of 8 · Latin

Summary

The author presents three kinds of life (pleasure, contemplation, and action), arguing that they are mutually inclusive rather than exclusive, and notes that even the Epicurean sect involves action, showing that contemplation is valued by all.

§7.1Praeterea tria genera sunt vitae, inter quae quod sit optimum quaeri solet.
Furthermore, there are three kinds of life, among which it is usually asked which is the best.
Unum voluptati vacat, alterum contemplatione tertium actioni.
One devotes its leisure to pleasure, the second to contemplation, the third to action.
Primum deposita contentione depositoque odio quod implacabile diversa sequentibus indiximus, videamus, ut haec omnia ad idem sub alio atque alio titulo perveniant.
First, having laid aside our contention and having laid aside that implacable hatred which we have declared against those who pursue different paths, let us see how all these, under one title or another, arrive at the same point.
Nec ille, qui voluptatem probat, sine contemplatione est, nec ille, qui contemplationi inservit, sine voluptate est, nec ille, cuius vita actionibus destinata est, sine contemplatione est.
Neither is he who approves of pleasure without contemplation, nor is he who devotes himself to contemplation without pleasure, nor is he whose life is destined for action without contemplation.
§7.2"Plurimum," inquis, "discriminis est, utrum aliqua res propositum sit an propositi alterius accessio. "Sit sane grande discrimen, tamen alterum sine altero non est.
"There is a very great difference," you say, "whether a certain thing is the main purpose or an accessory to another purpose." Granted that there is indeed a great difference, yet the one is not without the other.
Nec ille sine actione contemplatus nec hic sine contemplatione agit, nec ille tertius, de quo male existimare consensimus, voluptatem inertem probat, sed eam, quam ratione efficit firmam sibi; §7.3ita et haec ipsa voluptaria secta in actu est.
Neither does that man contemplate without action, nor does this one act without contemplation, nor does that third man, about whom we have agreed to think ill, approve of an inactive pleasure, but of that which he makes secure for himself by means of reason; thus even this very pleasure-seeking sect is in action.
Quidni in actu sit? cum ipse dicat Epicurus aliquando se recessurum a voluptate, dolorem etiam adpetiturum, si aut voluptati imminebit paenitentia aut dolor minor pro graviore sumetur? Quo pertinet haec dicere?
Why should it not be in action? Since Epicurus himself says that he will sometimes withdraw from pleasure and will even seek pain, if either repentance threatens pleasure or a lesser pain is chosen in place of a more grievous one. To what does it pertain to say these things?
§7.4Ut appareat contemplationem placere omnibus; alii petunt illam, nobis haec statio, non portus est.
To make it clear that contemplation is pleasing to all; others seek it, but to us this is a station, not a harbor.

Notes

  1. §7.1contemplatione — Although the verb vacat governs the dative, standing in parallel with voluptati and actioni, the manuscript transmission reads the ablative form contemplatione. While it is grammatically possible to interpret it as an ablative of separation with vacat ('is free from contemplation'), the context of listing three pursuits makes it more natural to treat it as a variant spelling or scribal error for the dative, meaning 'devotes leisure to contemplation.'
  2. §7.1videamus, ut haec omnia ad idem sub alio atque alio titulo perveniant — The ut-clause is led by videamus. Although ut usually introduces a clause of purpose or command, here it functions as an indirect question ('how') or a noun clause of result/fact, meaning 'let us see how all these arrive at the same point under different titles.'
  3. §7.2contemplatus — The perfect participle of the deponent verb contemplor, used here in an active sense as an adjective/noun meaning 'one who contemplates.' The copula est is omitted, forming the structure: nec ille sine actione contemplatus [est] ('nor does that man contemplate without action').
  4. §7.4nobis haec statio, non portus est — The word statio refers to a 'temporary anchorage' or stopping place on a voyage, while portus is the 'harbor' that serves as the final destination. This is a metaphorical contrast showing that, for the Stoics, contemplation (leisure) is not the ultimate end of life (portus), but a temporary rest or preparation (statio) before returning to active virtue.

Cite this passage

Seneca the Younger, On Leisure §7.1-7.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:stoa0255.stoa011.humanitext-lat2:7.1-7.4

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