The sources of On Tranquillity of Mind

1. manner of facing mankind's vices Democritus 1 refuted · 1 endorsed 2 citations · 1 passage

   on tranquillity of mind

   The passage explicitly recommends imitating Democritus, who laughed at human vice, over Heraclitus, endorsing his stance.

   that all the vices of the crowd seem to us not hateful but laughable, and that we imitate Democritus rather than Heraclitus.

2. Aristotle 1 authority 1 citation

   on tranquillity of mind

   The passage cites Aristotle's saying as authority that no great genius exists without a mixture of madness.

   For whether we believe the Greek poet that 'sometimes it is pleasant even to be mad,' or Plato that 'the man in possession of his senses has knocked in vain at the doors of poetry,' or Aristotle that 'no great genius has ever existed without a mixture of madness':

3. De Rerum Natura Lucretius 1 endorsed 1 citation · 2 passages

   on tranquillity of mind 2 passages anchored here

   The passage explicitly attributes the quoted line to Lucretius and Seneca builds directly upon its truth in the following paragraph.

   'Thus does each man forever flee himself.

4. Isocrates 1 authority 1 citation

   on tranquillity of mind

   The example is invoked to support and lend authority to the immediately following general principle that natures forced against their bent labor in vain.

   Isocrates laid his hand on Ephorus and drew him away from the forum, judging him more useful for composing records of history;

5. Plato 1 authority 1 citation

   on tranquillity of mind

   The passage cites Plato's saying as authority for the idea that sober possession of one's senses cannot achieve poetic greatness.

   For whether we believe the Greek poet that 'sometimes it is pleasant even to be mad,' or Plato that 'the man in possession of his senses has knocked in vain at the doors of poetry,' or Aristotle that 'no great genius has ever existed without a mixture of madness':

Each stands at a single passage. The chapter carries the anchors.

on tranquillity of mind 11 sources

Counsel on public engagement and withdrawal · Maxim on dining and reciprocity · Praise of the Alexandrian library's loss · Remark on baldness and hair-plucking · Saying on preferring death to mere life · Treatise on euthymia · mimes / sayings · saying on the origins of human concerns · saying on the pleasure of madness · teaching on tranquillity · unspecified saying on gladiators