Seneca Moral essays
Seneca: It is like Homer’s Achilles, 258lying first upon…
It is like Homer’s Achilles, 258lying first upon its face, then upon its back, placing itself in various attitudes, and, as sick people are wont, enduring none of them for long, and using changes as though they were remedies.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Seneca’s moral essays. The reading beside it is ours.
Restlessness often disguises itself as problem-solving. We rearrange the room, open another app, plan another trip, change jobs, change routines, and hope the new position will fix the discomfort. Sometimes a change is needed. But sometimes we are like a sick person turning over in bed, confusing movement with relief. The problem follows because it is inside us: impatience, fear, a lack of direction, an inability to be alone. Before making the next dramatic adjustment, see whether you have given stillness a fair trial. Can you sit with the feeling without immediately redesigning your life around it? A calmer mind will reveal whether change is necessary or merely distracting. Today, resist one unnecessary switch. Finish the task, stay in the conversation, or let boredom pass without reaching for a remedy.
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