“This can be swiftly taught in very few words: virtue is the only good; there is no certain good without virtue; and virtue resides in our nobler part, which is the rational one. And what can this virtue be? True and steadfast judgment. For from this will arise every mental impulse, and by it every appearance that spurs our impulses will be rendered clear.”
SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 71.32
Today’s quote in The Daily Stoic is a bit harder to understand than some of the others. For some reason the translation uses a tortured and convoluted English sentence structure, which obscures the meaning and even seems to mislead the reader at times. It’s very roundabout logic in that last sentence in particular, and a challenge to make any sense of.
Author Ryan Holiday seems to have seized on the word “steadfast”, and so he makes today’s entry entirely about consistency. Which is a good point to make, and consistency is definitely a very valuable and good trait to have.
Today, however, is one of those rare days where I diverge from his interpretation, and have a different take on the wisdom we’re supposed to gain here. I’ll concede that Holiday may have a deeper understanding of the overall context from which this quote was taken, but I think the key word from Seneca above is “judgment”. Yes, it must be “true and steadfast”, but the main point he’s trying to make is about the virtue of judgment itself.
So what exactly is the point about judgment he’s making, then? Seneca indicates in the last sentence that all of our mental impulses will come from judgment. Meaning that all the thoughts that arrive in our heads, all the sudden urges to take action, all the decisions that cross our minds — they all come via judgment. Judgment is the filter.
Further, and perhaps more importantly: judgment is what will help us understand all of these mental impulses, and where they came from. Judgment will “render clear” the circumstances and conditions that led to these thoughts and potential decisions. It helps us discern what exactly caused these particular mental impulses, so that we more clearly understand the whole picture, and can make a clear and reasoned choice.
Seneca feels that judgment is the ultimate virtue, the overarching one, as it guides our daily actions. And as you know, actions are more important to a Stoic than any amount of words.
Judgment for clear action — the rational virtue.
