"Being unexpected adds to the weight of a disaster, and being a surprise has never failed to increase a person's pain. For that reason, nothing should ever be unexpected by us. Our minds should be sent out in advance to all things and we shouldn't just consider the normal course of things, but what could actually happen. For is there anything in life that Fortune won't knock off its high horse if it pleases her?"-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 91.3a-4
("예상하지 못한 일은 재앙의 무게를 더하고, 뜻밖의 일은 사람의 고통을 증가시키는 법입니다. 그 이유로, 우리는 어떤 일도 예상하지 못해서는 안 됩니다. 우리의 마음은 미리 모든 일에 대비해야 하며, 정상적인 일의 흐름뿐만 아니라 실제로 일어날 수 있는 일에 대해 생각해야 합니다. 인생에서 운명이 마음만 먹으면 굴복시키지 않을 일이 있겠습니까?" - 세네카, 도덕 편지, 91.3a-4)
In the year 64, during the reign of Nero, a fire tore through the city of Rome. The French city of Lyons sent a large sum of money to aid the victims. The next year the citizens of Lyons were suddenly struck by a tragic fire of their own, prompting Nero to send an equal sum to its victims. As Seneca wrote about the event to a friend in one of his letters, he must have been struck by the poetry-one city helping another, only to be struck by similar disaster not long after.
How often does that happen to us? We comfort a friend during a breakup, only to be surprised when our own relationship ends. We must prepare in our minds for the possibility of extreme reversals of fate. The next time you ...
