Put such a person in some difficulty he hasn’t learned to bear, and his

unperturbedness will probably fade quickly. It’s like putting some spoiled rich
kids born with a silver spoon in their mouths into the shoes of ordinary people. As
their strength greatly relied on their wealth, is their character strong enough to
continue flourishing? What makes a sage is his inner strength: the ability not to
be injured regardless of external circumstances. I quote: In like manner you may
know that the wise man, if no injury hurts him, is of a higher type than if none is
offered to him, and I should call him a brave man whom war does not subdue and the
violence of the enemy does not alarm, not him who enjoys luxurious ease amid a
slothful people. I say, then, that such a wise man is invulnerable against all
injury; it matters not, therefore, how many darts be hurled at him, since he can be
pierced by none of them. End quote. According to Seneca, a wise man is beyond
receiving injury. Whatever life throws at him, he will bear it calmly. “The
invulnerable is not that which is never struck, but that which is never wounded,”
he stated. Again, we cannot control whether or not the world will be friendly to
us; it’s utterly beyond our control. Even if we possess immeasurable wealth, power
comparable to a Roman emperor, and influence over all existing media, we cannot
control all human behavior. However, we can develop the ability to become
invulnerable (or less vulnerable, at least) to misfortune. How can we do that?
According to Seneca, we can pull this off through patience, meaning a long
endurance of the adversities we aim to conquer and “trusting to reason.” Let’s take
a look at different life situations and see how Seneca approaches these and how we
could conquer them according to his ideas. In his work, Seneca tells us about
Vatinius, a man he describes as “born to be laughed at and hated.” Vatinius was
also a witty and clever jester who lacked any form of shame and apparently was
under much scrutiny.