On Tranquility of Mind Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by the Roman Philosopher Seneca in his book On Tranquility of Mind, sometime between 49 and 62 C.E. So yeah, it's old.

In On Tranquility of Mind, Seneca chats with a dude named Annaeus Serenus, who's come to Seneca for help. The guy thinks that there's something wrong with his brain because he can't enjoy all the pleasures of life that everyone else does—like making money and partying all day. But Seneca says that this detachment is actually the symptom of a healthy mind, not an unhealthy one.

And this is the part where Serenus is all like "Say what?" How does that work? Well, back in the day, Seneca embraced a type of philosophy called Stoicism, which basically says you shouldn't worry too much about the ups and downs of the outside world. You should just calm down and accept the fact that you'll die some day. It's kind of like that stoner in high school who tells everyone to "Chillax" all the time.

For this reason, Seneca thinks everyone should spend a lot of time thinking about their own deaths, since this will help remind them how pointless it is to spend all their time chasing after worldly pleasures. Yeah, it's a total bummer—but apparently, there are still plenty of people who believe this.

Where you've heard it

Back in the late 1800s, the writer Oscar Wilde decided to make fun of Seneca's famous quote by saying, "There are few things easier than to live badly and to die well." In other words, he's saying that you can totally live a terrible life and act like a good person just at the end.

Since then, people are most likely to bring up Seneca's idea when they talk about getting in touch with the fact that everyone will die some day. And if you've ever heard anything like this, we're willing to bet that the person saying this to you was your psychiatrist, your Buddhist mentor, or some jerk trying to bring you down at a party. Or maybe all three at once (think about it).

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

When you whip out a quote from the first century of the Common Era, chances are it's going to sound pretentious no matter how you slice it. On top of that, the wording of Seneca's quote immediately tells your audience that it's a quote from some classical text. And finally, the quote shows that you're giving advice not just to the person beside you, but to all humanity, which is pretty pretentious. So if you're worried about that, just try changing the wording a bit to say, "You know, you might live a better life if you remind yourself you won't be around forever."