Seneca Collection

Are you interested in philosophy? Do the greatest thinkers from the past influence the way you think and act? Philosophers have been shaping the world for centuries. Their ideas have shaped the way we act as individuals and groups for as long as we can remember, and their deep thought processes have been marveled at and replicated by millions across the world.

Of a Happy Life is an essay written by Seneca around the year 58 AD. It was intended for his older brother Gallio, to whom Seneca also dedicated his dialogue entitled De Ira (On Anger). It is divided into 28 chapters that present the moral thoughts of Seneca at their most mature. Seneca explains that the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of reason - reason meant not only using logic, but also understanding the processes of nature.

On Clemency is a two volume (incomplete) hortatory essay written in 55-56 CE by Seneca the Younger, a Roman Stoic philosopher, to the emperor Nero in the first five years of his reign. From Seneca's remarks, it would appear that it was written after Nero had turned 18, which would place it after the murder of his rival Britannicus in 55 AD. It may therefore have been written partly as an apology, perhaps as a means of assuring the Roman nobility that the murder would be the end, not the beginning of bloodshed.

Though many of us might answer "yes" to that question, attracting more joy into our lives is not always easy - life and stress can seem to hinder our well-being, despite our best efforts. What’s worse, studies have shown that pressuring yourself to feel happy and upbeat when you feel down can actually take a toll on us psychologically! So, where do you begin? The solution lies in understanding the innate psychological forces that conspire against us.

Seneca's work has been distributed and read for nearly 2,000 years, yet this brand-new version of some of his best essays on how to be happy has been illuminated by UCLA Design students to kindle a spark of enthusiasm for his ideas. This illuminated book consists of four essays, each with ornamented pages and highlighted quotations created specifically for this timeless edition.

Today, we believe that the difference between failure and success, from average to elite, from deadbeat dropout to CEO, is the mentality. It might sound like an easy answer, but a healthy mentality requires constant work, just like happiness and all the good things in life. To help you achieve that wholesome mentality that takes you from good to great, we analyzed three of the greatest philosophers and broke down their observations on human nature, mentality, and happiness.

The first book in the essays of Seneca deals with good and evil. The dialogue is opened by Lucilius complaining with his friend Seneca that adversities and misfortunes can happen to good men too. How can this fit with the goodness connected with the design of providence? Seneca answers according to the Stoic point of view.