[One Thousand Characters a Day] Seneca, 'Philosopher's Consolation' <3>

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for readers of the 'One Day, One Thousand Characters' newsletter. The transcription content is carefully selected according to daily and monthly themes from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, notable columns, and famous speeches. Today's transcription example is a letter sent by the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca to Marcia, who had been grieving for years after losing her son. Seneca comforts her by saying, "The reason humans cannot escape from wailing is that nothing is anticipated before misfortune occurs," and "Everyone's (life) end is predetermined. Now, put down the burden of thinking 'I could have lived longer.'" The text contains 1,026 characters.

What is natural does not diminish with the passage of time. As days go by, the pain subsides. No matter how stubbornly and daily it wells up or how much remedies are applied, the most effective force in calming the frenzy is time, which neutralizes its power.

You still have it, Marcia. That immense sorrow remains. Now it has become calloused, no longer as intense as at first, but it seems stubborn and hardened. Yet time will carve this away as well. Whenever you engage in other things, your heart will loosen.

Right now, you are watching over yourself. But there is a big difference between allowing yourself to grieve and commanding yourself to do so. Rather than waiting for the day when grief disappears, creating that day yourself better suits your graceful nature! Do not wait for the pain to cease in circumstances you do not desire. Bid farewell to that pain yourself.

"Then why on earth can we not escape from wailing unless nature commands it?" Because we cannot predict anything before misfortune happens. We think that we ourselves will never suffer misfortune and will proceed on a calmer path than others, but we fail to recall, while watching others’ misfortunes, that such misfortune is common to all.

Though so many funeral processions pass in front of our homes, we do not think about death. Despite so many heartbreaking funerals, we inwardly ponder the day children will become adults, military service, and inheritance from ancestors.

So many wealthy people suddenly collapse into poverty before our eyes. Yet we never think that our own wealth is similarly precarious. Therefore, the more unexpected the misfortune, the more inevitable our downfall becomes. Events long foreseen tend to happen very slowly.

Facing the blow aimed at all people, will you realize that the very spear that pierced others has grazed around you?

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, translated by Lee Se-woon, (Minumsa, 15,000 KRW)

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.