Letter 103

Why do you look about you at those things which can perhaps befall you, but can also fail to befall? I mean fire, collapse, and the rest, which happen to us without lying in wait for us; look rather at those, avoid those, which watch us and lie in ambush for us. Rarer are the mishaps, even if grave, of being shipwrecked or of being thrown from one's carriage; from man to man the danger is a daily one. Against this prepare yourself, this gaze upon with intent eyes. There is no evil more frequent, none more persistent, none more insinuating.

And the storm threatens before it rises, buildings crack before they fall, smoke gives warning of fire; but the ruin that comes from man is sudden, and is concealed the more carefully the nearer it draws. You are mistaken if you trust the faces of those you meet; they have the looks of men, the hearts of beasts, save that with beasts only the first onset is deadly; those they have passed by, they do not seek out. For nothing but necessity ever goads beasts to do harm; either by hunger or by fear they are driven to the fight; but to man it is a pleasure to destroy man.

Do you, however, so consider what danger there is from man, that you also consider what is the duty of man. Look to the one, that you be not harmed; to the other, that you do no harm. Rejoice in the good fortune of all, be moved by their misfortunes, and remember what you owe to render, what to guard against.

By living thus, what will you gain? Not that they should do you no harm, but that they should not deceive you. So far as you can, retire into philosophy: she will protect you in her bosom; in her sanctuary you will be safe, or at least safer. Men do not collide with one another save when walking on the same road.

But you must not flaunt this very philosophy; to many it has been a cause of danger when handled insolently and defiantly. Let it strip your own vices from you, not reproach others with theirs. Let it not shrink away from common manners, nor act in such a way that it seems to condemn whatever it does not itself do. One may be wise without display, without giving offence. Farewell.