The wise man
idea · 7 works · 9 mentions · 23 anchored passages
also in the atlas: The wise man the figure
the wise man · sapiens · he who has taken up wisdom · him · that wise man of yours · the perfect man
spoken of as
1 expressionwise man1 mention
On Tranquillity of Mind (Latin)
This is why we say that nothing happens to the wise man contrary to his expectation:
in the texts
Lucullus
The Stoic/Academic ideal of the perfectly rational person, whose proper relationship to assent, opinion, and perception is the organizing question of the entire debate.
'"If the wise man shall ever assent to anything, he will sometimes also hold an opinion;
Nor yet am I one who never approves anything false, who never assents, who holds no opinion;
The likenesses, indeed, either of twins, or of seals stamped by signet-rings, they pursue childishly.
On the Steadfastness of the Wise Man
The ideal figure who has already achieved invulnerability to insult and injury, contrasted with the aspirant still struggling toward that state.
The wise man has another aid, the opposite of this:
But the wise man and the aspirant to wisdom will use different remedies.
I do not deny that the wise man feels these;
Tusculan Disputations
The Stoic ideal of the person free from all disturbances of mind
for you pretend to inquire about the wise man, but you inquire, perhaps, about yourself.
that wisdom is the science and knowledge of things divine and human, and of the cause of each thing;
The Stoics, indeed, both say that the wise man will love, and define love itself as an effort of making friendship from the appearance of beauty.
Letters to Lucilius
The Stoic ideal figure who has achieved perfect virtue and is unshaken by external misfortune.
The wise man is not afflicted by the loss of children or of friends.
Therefore the wise man grows accustomed to coming evils, and what others make light by long endurance, he makes light by long forethought.
31. "What then? Will he not suffer something like perturbation? Will not his color change, and his face be agitated, and his limbs grow cold?" And whatever else is done not at the command of the mind, but by some unconsidered impulse of Nature. I admit it; but the same conviction will remain with him: that none of those things is an evil, or worthy that a sound mind should give way to it. All that …
On Benefits
The Stoic ideal sage, whose paradoxical universal possession of all things versus particular ownership by others is the central puzzle addressed at length.
1 For I so say that all things are the wise man's that nonetheless each man has his own dominion over his own things, just as under the best king the king possesses all things by his sovereignty, individuals by their ownership.
On the Shortness of Life
The Stoic ideal figure who possesses complete, unbroken freedom, above the reach of Fortune, and who faces death without fear.
But, by Hercules, the wise man will never sink to so lowly a title, never will he be half free;
and so, whenever the last day comes, the wise man will not hesitate to go to his death with a steady step.
On Tranquillity of Mind
The Stoic ideal figure who holds all possessions, and life itself, as things merely lent, unshaken by fortune.
This is why we say that nothing happens to the wise man contrary to his expectation:
And whenever he is bidden to give it back, he will not quarrel with fortune, but will say:
if you prefer otherwise, then my wrought and coined silver, my house, my household—I give them back, I restore them.