‘The assaults of adversity don’t weaken the spirit of a brave man.’ – Seneca
Introduction
Seneca
was an amazing stoic philosopher who’s remembered for his life-changing moral
essays. I read these essays to find out why most great folks love them, and I
was amazed by the amazing pearls of wisdom they possessed.
I then
realized that the best teachings from the essays are his writings on The Brave
Man.
Seneca’s Thoughts on the Brave Man
According
to Seneca, a brave man is any individual who welcomes adversity knowing that it
trains him to be a better person. This man, as Seneca writes, rejoices in
adversity and fears nothing, and for this reason, he never worries about the
possibility of future hardships.
As well,
Seneca compares the brave man to boxers who match their strength with several,
and not one opponent because they know that fighting several opponents will
improve their skills. Seneca thus believes that brave men, just like boxers,
seek challenges that will make them stronger.
Moreover,
Seneca advises all those facing severe hardships to realize that God considers
them brave because he only sends such hardships to brave folks. For as he
writes, ‘Why is it that God afflicts the best men with ill health, or sorrow,
or some other misfortune? For the same reason that in the army, the bravest men
are assigned hazardous tasks.’
Seneca
also believes God sends extreme hardships to brave men to prepare them for
something big. He uses the example of fathers and their sons to prove his
point. He explains how fathers make their sons toil and sweat when preparing
them for something great in the future.
Fathers, as Seneca writes, ‘ensure their sons wake up early, and they never allow them to be idle during holidays, they draw from them sweat and sometimes tears’ because they want them to gather true strength that will enable them to handle what’s waiting for them in the future.
Discussions and Conclusions
For us to consider ourselves brave, we must welcome adversity and stop worrying about the possibility of future hardships. We must also trust that Infinite Intelligence/God sends us hardships because it believes we have the power to overcome them and because it uses the hardships to prepare us for what’s ahead.
Apostle Paul firmly supported Seneca’s advice on hardships for he wrote in Romans 8: 18, ‘God hardens whom he wills.’ Like Seneca, he believed that facing many hardships indicates that God has something great for you.
Therefore,
from today onwards, we must embrace hardships knowing that they are preparing
us for the great things that the universe has in store for us.
Works Cited
Seneca & John Basore. “Seneca, Moral
Essays, Volume I.” Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1 Jan.
1928.
Purity ng'ang'a
September 4, 2019 at 11:24 am
The best lessons in life are learned through adversity…….
Isaac Wechuli
September 4, 2019 at 11:32 am
true