Commentary: Feeling despair and uncertainty? This Roman Stoic philosopher has some answers
by Eli Merritt, Los Angeles Times
Dec 30, 2021
3 minutes
Today many Americans are experiencing despair about climate change, the new surge in COVID-19 and the uncertain future of our democracy. The best way to cope with these “afflictions of the spirit,” according to the Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca, is not by pursuing false cheer this holiday season but by seeking equanimity with all life’s misfortunes, including death itself.
Seneca, a contemporary of Jesus, believed that the worst form of human suffering is despair. After long personal
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