Sublime

On se représente souvent le stoïcisme comme une philosophie de la certitude et de l'assurance intellectuelle. Mais, en fait, les stoïciens n'accordent qu'au sage, c'est-à-dire à un être extrêmement rare qui, pour eux, est plus un idéal inaccessible qu'une réalité concrète, l'impossibilité de se tromper et la sûreté parfaite dans ses assentiments.

L’idée était que l’ascèse ne doit pas être ostentatoire. Les stoïciens ne recherchent pas les applaudissements de la foule. Ils pratiquent leur philosophie pour atteindre une liberté intérieure et gagner en résilience face à l’adversité.

“But the wise person can lose nothing. Such a person has everything stored up for themselves, leaving nothing to Fortune, their own goods are held firm, bound in virtue, which requires nothing from chance, and therefore can’t be either increased or diminished.” —SENECA, ON THE FIRMNESS OF THE WISE, 5.4

a philosophy that always offered the promise of autonomy, masculinity, and total control over life, despite any of the assaults of fortune. The thought of the constancy of the wise man must have comforted Seneca in these years of exile. It is possible that it was during this period (though it may have been later) that he composed two of his most in

I would like to suggest, though, that Cato and the other Stoics found a way to retain their tranquility despite their involvement with the world around them: They internalized their goals. Their goal was not to change the world, but to do their best to bring about certain changes. Even if their efforts proved to be ineffectual, they could neverthel