The Pursuit of True Happiness: Overcoming Fear and Embracing Virtue — Letter 60
I complain, argue, and get angry. Do you still desire what your nurse, your teacher, and your mother wished for you? Don’t you understand how much harm parents do when they pray for their children’s success? How harmful the misguided good wishes of those closest to us can be! They love us, but they don’t know how to love wisely.
It’s no wonder we struggle from cradle to grave, living among misguided prayers. Consider how noble Maecenas’ words were when, overwhelmed by his endless sufferings, he cried out for death:
“Let me be crippled, weak, and lame,
Let cancer grow and shake my frame,
Let my teeth chatter and decay,
If only life can stretch one day.”
He’s begging for the most wretched conditions, seeing extended life as the greatest good. What’s living to be so afraid of dying? This man wants his life prolonged even if it means being impaled. What could be more shameful than this soft approach to life? What could be more shameful than trading health for a longer life?
I’d say Maecenas was more pathetic than the man who begged to be crucified. Both wish for an extended life, but at least the crucified man has an end in sight. The other chooses endless torture, wishing for what’s usually a punishment. Wanting to live through pain is…
