Seneca · c. 4 BCE – 65 CE
On Clemency 1.3 ¶1 — Seneca
Translation by Aubrey Stewart (1889)
Seneca, On Clemency 1.3 ¶1
But these matters will be treated of better in their own place. I will now divide this whole subject into three parts. The first will be of gentleness of temper: the second will be that which explains the nature and disposition of clemency; for since there are certain vices which have the semblance of virtue, they cannot be separated unless you stamp upon them the marks which distinguish them from one another: in the third place we shall inquire how the mind may be led to practise this virtue, how it may strengthen it, and by habit make it its own.
Cite this passage
Seneca, On Clemency 1.3 ¶1, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1889)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-clemency/1.3.1
Seneca, Dialogues, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887–1889). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA roadmap for the treatise: first the value of a gentle temper, then what clemency really is and how it differs from vices that imitate virtue, and finally how to train the mind to practise it until it becomes habit.
Older wording
- “semblance”
- — outward appearance or resemblance
Themes and situations
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Self-discipline and habit
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