Counter-Currents
  • Private Events
  • T&C
  • Contact
  • Webzine
  • About
  • Books
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Donate
  • Paywall
  • Crypto
  • RSS
    • Main feed
    • Podcast feed
    • Videos feed
    • Comments feed
  • Advertise

LEVEL2

Donate Now Mailing list
  • Webzine
  • About
  • Books
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Donate
  • Paywall
  • Crypto
  • RSS
    • Main feed
    • Podcast feed
    • Videos feed
    • Comments feed
  • Advertise
  • Recent posts

    • The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      Jim Goad

      21

    • Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Morris van de Camp

      7

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 527 Machiavellianism & More

      Counter-Currents Radio

    • Buddha a Führer: Mladý Emil Cioran o Německu

      Guillaume Durocher

    • This Weekend’s Livestream
      Greg Johnson, Pox Populi, & American Krogan on Machiavellianism & More

      Greg Johnson

    • The Machiavellian Method

      Greg Johnson

      10

    • IQ Is a Phenotype

      Spencer J. Quinn

      38

    • Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema

      Anthony Bavaria

      17

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 5

      Muriel Gantry

      1

    • Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      Jim Goad

      83

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 4

      Muriel Gantry

    • My Breakout from the Modern World: The Hungarian Day of Honour Tour 2023, Part 2

      Tizenegy

      4

    • Enoch Powell, poslední tory

      Gregory Hood

    • Dr. Roger Pearson: Doyen of Anglo-American Racial Science

      Peter Rushton

      3

    • Collateral Damage: The United Kingdom’s Lockdown Files

      Mark Gullick

      5

    • Obituary for Prof. Roger Pearson, M.Sc. (Econ.), Ph.D., (London): 1927–2023

      Mark Cotterill

      4

    • The Estonian Election & Nationalist Strategy

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      10

    • Hunter S. Thompson as Psyop

      James J. O'Meara

      8

    • Institutional Racism Explained

      Richard Knight

      8

    • A “Novel” Approach to the Understanding of Evil

      Stephen Paul Foster

      18

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 526 Cyan Quinn Reports from CPAC & More

      Counter-Currents Radio

      3

    • The Worst Week Yet: March 5-11, 2023

      Jim Goad

      23

    • John Wayne’s The Alamo & the Politics of the 1960s

      Morris van de Camp

      1

    • Thielemann Conducts Bruckner’s Eighth in Berkeley

      Donald Thoresen

      2

    • John Fante’s Ask the Dust

      Anthony Bavaria

      6

    • Remembering Gabriele D’Annunzio
      (March 12, 1863–March 1, 1938)

      Greg Johnson

      4

    • This Weekend’s Livestream
      Cyan Quinn on CPAC, Project Veritas, Jan. 6, & East Palestine

      Greg Johnson

      4

    • Do You Have What It Takes to be a Dissident?

      Spencer J. Quinn

      43

    • Personal Finance Tips for Dissidents

      David Lewis

      20

    • Survival of the Fittest: Interview with Alexander Deptolla of Kampf der Nibelungen

      Ondrej Mann

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 3

      Muriel Gantry

    • Dr. Roger Pearson on His Life & Work

      Dr. Roger Pearson

      6

    • 40,000 Brown Sardines Packed Into One Prison

      Jim Goad

      71

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 2

      Muriel Gantry

    • The Banshees of Inisherin

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      3

    • The Quiet Man: John Foxx’s Ultravox!

      Mark Gullick

      12

    • The British Brass Band

      Alex Graham

      6

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 1

      Muriel Gantry

      2

    • Charles de Gaulle a válka v Alžírsku

      Jean-Marie Le Pen

    • CPAC 2023: The Republican Party is Dying Out

      Cyan Quinn

      27

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 525 On Capitalism, Socialism, & the Ethnostate

      Counter-Currents Radio

      10

    • Remembering the German POW Camp at Bretzenheim

      Clarissa Schnabel

      11

    • Daylight Savings as Maladaptive Faustianism

      James Dunphy

      1

    • The Abolitionists as Virtue-Signalers: Nehemiah Adams & A South-side View of Slavery

      Spencer J. Quinn

      22

    • Biden’s Open Border

      Morris van de Camp

      2

    • Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch

      Steven Clark

      12

    • Equilibrium

      Buttercup Dew

      1

    • This Weekend’s Livestream
      Capitalism, Socialism, & the Ethnostate

      Greg Johnson

      8

    • Forgotten Roots of the Left: Fichte’s Moral & Political Philosophy, Part III

      Collin Cleary

      1

    • The Elite Are Those Who Refuse to Lie

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      22

  • Classics Corner

    • The Searchers

      Trevor Lynch

      29

    • Gabriele D’Annunzio

      Jonathan Bowden

      2

    • Remembering A. R. D. “Rex” Fairburn (February 2, 1904–March 25, 1957)

      Greg Johnson

      1

    • Denis Kearney & the Struggle for a White America

      Theodore J. O'Keefe

      1

    • Posthuman Prospects:
      Artificial Intelligence, Fifth Generation Warfare, & Archeofuturism

      Christopher Pankhurst

      5

    • Earnest Sevier Cox:
      Advocate for the White Ethnostate

      Morris van de Camp

      15

    • Remembering Jack London
      (January 12, 1876–November 22, 1916)

      Greg Johnson

      2

    • Remembering Robinson Jeffers:
      January 10, 1887–January 20, 1962

      John Morgan

      3

    • Remembering Pierre Drieu La Rochelle:
      January 3, 1893–March 15, 1945

      Greg Johnson

    • Remembering Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865-January 18, 1936)

      Greg Johnson

      10

    • Restoring White Homelands

      Greg Johnson

      34

    • Remembering Hinton Rowan Helper

      Spencer J. Quinn

      11

    • What’s Wrong with Diversity?

      Greg Johnson

      10

    • Redefining the Mainstream

      Greg Johnson

      3

    • Edward Alsworth Ross:
      American Metapolitical Hero

      Morris van de Camp

      8

    • The Talented Mr. Ripley & Purple Noon

      Trevor Lynch

      19

    • Christmas & the Yuletide:
      Light in the Darkness

      William de Vere

      3

    • Thanksgiving Special 
      White Men Meet Indians:
      Jamestown & the Clash of Civilizations

      Thomas Jackson

    • Colin Wilson’s The Outsider

      Sir Oswald Mosley

      4

    • Dostoyevsky on the Jews

      William Pierce

      4

    • Jefferson &/or Mussolini, Part 1

      Ezra Pound

      5

    • I Listened to Chapo Trap House So You Don’t Have To

      Doug Huntington

      98

    • The Homeric Gods

      Mark Dyal

      13

    • Toward a Baltic-Black Sea Union:
      “Intermarium” as a Viable Model for White Revival

      Émile Durand

      55

    • The Politics of Nuclear War, Part 3

      John Morgan

      30

    • The Politics of Nuclear War, Part 2

      John Morgan

      6

    • Columbus Day Special
      The Autochthony Argument

      Greg Johnson

      9

    • The Politics of Nuclear War, Part 1

      John Morgan

      8

    • The Jewish Question for Normies

      Alan Smithee

      13

    • Human Biodiversity for Normies

      Alan Smithee

      10

  • Paroled from the Paywall

    • How to Prepare for an Emergency

      Beau Albrecht

    • Henry Mayhew’s London Labour & the London Poor

      Mark Gullick

      1

    • The American Regime

      Thomas Steuben

      3

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 12: Liberty — Equality — Fraternity: On the Meaning of a Republican Slogan

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Eggs Benedict Option

      Howe Abbott-Hiss

    • Religion & Eugenics

      Paul Popenoe

      2

    • Ian Kershaw’s Personality & Power

      Margot Metroland

      3

    • Correspondence between Gaston-Armand Amaudruz & Julius Evola

      Gaston-Armand Amaudruz & Julius Evola

      1

    • David Duke & Louisiana’s 1991 Gubernatorial Election

      Morris van de Camp

      4

    • A Woman’s Guide to Identifying Psychopaths, Part 7 More of the Most Common Jobs for Psychopaths

      James Dunphy

      1

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 521 Daily Zoomer & Spencer J. Quinn Discuss The No College Club

      Counter-Currents Radio

      1

    • Traditional French Songs from Le Poème Harmonique

      Alex Graham

      1

    • The Whale

      Steven Clark

      4

    • The Wave: Fascism Reenacted in a High School

      Beau Albrecht

      6

    • What Went Wrong with America’s Universities?

      Stephen Paul Foster

      3

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 520 Inside Serbia with Marko of Zentropa

      Counter-Currents Radio

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 4: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 3: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 2: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 1: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

      1

    • The Secret of My Success

      Steven Clark

      2

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 519 An Update on South America on The Writers’ Bloc

      Counter-Currents Radio

      1

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 10, Part 2: The Ambiguity of “Communitarianism”

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 10, Part 1: The Ambiguity of “Communitarianism”

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Eternal Fedora

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      16

    • The Kennedy Assassination & Misreading Data

      Morris van de Camp

      18

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 518 Blair Cottrell & Josh Neal on The Myth of Mental Illness

      Counter-Currents Radio

    • The Bene Gesserit Books: Frank Herbert’s Heretics of Dune & Chapterhouse: Dune

      Greg Johnson

      3

    • Tár: Reflections on the Artist vs. the Hive

      Steven Clark

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 517 Special Hangover Stream on The Writers’ Bloc

      Counter-Currents Radio

      5

  • Recent comments

    • Vehmgericht

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      Would that be Hope not Hate, the deep-pocketed antifa outfit whose virulently anti-white agit-prop...

    • Buttercup

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Women doing powerlifting seems pretty contrary to gender norms, so it's a bad argument to use...

    • OMC

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      If I said the right magic words, I could use the women’s locker room at my gym, despite anyone else’...

    • Francis XB

      Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema

      “Ocean is at war with Eastasia,”   Should be:  "Oceania is at war with Eastasia." A...

    • JinAJ

      Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      Here it is : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gk9Z_fdzG9g. [1h 47m]

    • John

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      “[W]hite Canadian”.  No need to include White with Canadian as Canada, not unlike USA, Australia, NZ...

    • Deodato

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      The 1967 film Dutchman makes me think of another 1967 B&W film featuring the NYC subway. The...

    • Spanish is a European language

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      I’ve vacillated on this topic over the years. I grew up eating, breathing, playing and following...

    • JinAJ

      Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      Check out 'Rio Conchos' w/Richard Boone - full movie was/is on ewe-tube.

    • Beau Albrecht

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      There are several problems with this ideology.  For one thing, there's a lot of pressure on...

    • FromNorth

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Rowling is a perfect example of the schizophrenic world-view of moderate leftists. She's clearly not...

    • Scott

      Do You Have What It Takes to be a Dissident?

      >> SCOTT wrote: “The Federal government even actively recruits Mormons at the Universities for...

    • Middle Class Twit

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      I'm currently involved in one of the campaigns against migrant hotels in Britain. Coming face to...

    • Antipodean

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Second World War happened because the British made a guarantee to Poland for its security which they...

    • Scott

      Do You Have What It Takes to be a Dissident?

      That is all well and good, Will, but things are not true just because some people say they are. It...

    • Xin Loi

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      "To ban porn or trans medication (impossible)?" Of course it's not impossible! What a presentist...

    • Fred C. Dobbs

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      Hilarious

    • BTI

      Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema

      Lynch's reviews are far more entertaining than the movies.

    • SmithsFan84

      Hunter S. Thompson as Psyop

      In The Venture Brothers cartoon show, Colonel Hunter Gathers is based off Hunter Thompson supposedly...

    • J Webb

      Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      A young Stephen Spielberg recounts a memorable encounter with John Ford in his latest film, The...

  • Book Authors

    • Alain de Benoist
    • Anthony M. Ludovici
    • Beau Albrecht
    • Buttercup Dew
    • Charles Krafft
    • Christopher Pankhurst
    • Collin Cleary
    • F. Roger Devlin
    • Fenek Solère
    • Francis Parker Yockey
    • Greg Johnson
    • Gregory Hood
    • H. L. Mencken
    • Irmin Vinson
    • J. A. Nicholl
    • James J. O’Meara
    • Jef Costello
    • Jim Goad
    • Jonathan Bowden
    • Juleigh Howard-Hobson
    • Julius Evola
    • Kerry Bolton
    • Leo Yankevich
    • Michael Polignano
    • Multiple authors
    • Savitri Devi
    • Spencer J. Quinn
    • Tito Perdue
    • Trevor Lynch
  • Webzine Authors

    Editor-in-Chief

    • Greg Johnson, Ph.D.

    Featured Writers

    • Beau Albrecht
    • Morris V. de Camp
    • Jim Goad
    • Mark Gullick, Ph.D.
    • Greg Johnson, Ph.D.
    • Spencer Quinn

    Frequent Writers

    • Aquilonius
    • Anthony Bavaria
    • Alain de Benoist
    • Kerry Bolton, Ph.D.
    • Collin Cleary, Ph.D.
    • Jef Costello
    • F. Roger Devlin, Ph.D.
    • Stephen Paul Foster, Ph.D.
    • Alex Graham
    • Richard Houck
    • Margot Metroland
    • John Morgan
    • Trevor Lynch
    • James J. O’Meara
    • Kathryn S.
    • Thomas Steuben
    • Michael Walker

    Classic Authors

    • Maurice Bardèche
    • Jonathan Bowden
    • Julius Evola
    • Guillaume Faye
    • Ernst Jünger
    • Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D.
    • D. H. Lawrence
    • Charles Lindbergh
    • Jack London
    • H. P. Lovecraft
    • Anthony M. Ludovici
    • Sir Oswald Mosley
    • National Vanguard
    • Friedrich Nietzsche
    • Revilo Oliver
    • William Pierce
    • Ezra Pound
    • Saint-Loup
    • Savitri Devi
    • Carl Schmitt
    • Miguel Serrano
    • Oswald Spengler
    • P. R. Stephensen
    • Jean Thiriart
    • John Tyndall
    • Dominique Venner
    • Leo Yankevich
    • Francis Parker Yockey

    Other Authors

    • Howe Abbott-Hiss
    • Michael Bell
    • Buttercup Dew
    • Giles Corey
    • Bain Dewitt
    • Jack Donovan
    • Richardo Duchesne, Ph.D.
    • Emile Durand
    • Guillaume Durocher
    • Mark Dyal
    • Fullmoon Ancestry
    • Tom Goodroch
    • Andrew Hamilton
    • Robert Hampton
    • Huntley Haverstock
    • Derek Hawthorne
    • Gregory Hood
    • Juleigh Howard-Hobson
    • Alexander Jacob
    • Nicholas Jeelvy
    • Ruuben Kaalep
    • Tobias Langdon
    • Julian Langness
    • Travis LeBlanc
    • Patrick Le Brun
    • G A Malvicini
    • John Michael McCloughlin
    • Millennial Woes
    • Michael O’Meara
    • Christopher Pankhurst
    • Michael Polignano
    • J. J. Przybylski
    • Quntilian
    • Edouard Rix
    • C. B. Robertson
    • C. F. Robinson
    • Herve Ryssen
    • Alan Smithee
    • Fenek Solere
    • Ann Sterzinger
    • Robert Steuckers
    • Tomislav Sunic
    • Donald Thoresen
    • Marian Van Court
    • Irmin Vinson
    • Aylmer Wedgwood
    • Scott Weisswald
  • Departments

    • Book Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • TV Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Art Criticism
    • Graphic Novels & Comics
    • Video Game Reviews
    • Fiction
    • Poems
    • Interviews
    • Videos
    • English Translations
    • Other Languages
      • Arabic
      • Bulgarian
      • Croatian
      • Czech
      • Danish
      • Dutch
      • Estonian
      • Finnish
      • French
      • German
      • Greek
      • Hungarian
      • Italian
      • Lithuanian
      • Norwegian
      • Polish
      • Portuguese
      • Romanian
      • Russian
      • Slovak
      • Spanish
      • Swedish
      • Ukrainian
    • Commemorations
    • Why We Write
  • Archives
  • Top 100 Commenters
  • Private Events
  • T&C
  • Contact
Sponsored Links
Above Time Coffee Antelope Hill Publishing Paul Waggener Asatru Folk Assembly IHR Breakey Imperium Press American Renaissance The Patrick Ryan Show Jim Goad The Occidental Observer
Print April 22, 2021 4 comments

Seneca on Keeping Cool

Dabney Hixson

1,495 words

Seneca and James Romm, ed., trans.
How to Keep Your Cool: An Ancient Guide to Anger Management
Princeton University Press, 2019

Long before self-help books, pop-psychology gurus, TED talks, non-fiction political punditry, and “anger-management” classes, the ancients dispensed wisdom on a variety of topics, personal and societal. Princeton University Press is in the process of publishing a new series of these works, with pithy contemporary titles, in an abridged and accessible format under the imprint “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers.” Current works available include Aristotle on How to Innovate, Cicero on How to be a Friend, Horace on How to be Content, and Epictetus on How to be Free. Not only are the books printed in an easy-to-carry handbook format, with large enough print to make for comfortable reading, but they are attractive diglot editions, alternating pages between the original Greek or Latin and a contemporary English translation. Those who studied Latin or Greek in high school or college will find these editions perfect for easy reading of the English text, while occasionally checking the original.

My first dip into the series was Seneca’s How to Keep Your Cool, edited and translated by James Romm, professor of Classics at Bard College.

A brief introduction notes the substantial life of Seneca (4 BC-65 AD), a philosopher who moved in the upper echelon of first-century Roman society. He managed to survive the cruel and capricious reign of Caligula, was appointed by Claudius as tutor of a then thirteen-year-old future emperor Nero, and was eventually forced to commit suicide by his former student when he ascended to the throne. Seneca met his unjust fate (the order to end his life was motivated by Nero’s desire to inherit his substantial assets) with the same equanimity of spirit with which he had lived his life, derived from its grounding in Stoicism, though, according to Romm, he did not follow the Stoic path “in any orthodox way” (xii).

How to Keep Your Cool is an extract of about one-third of the original text of Seneca’s De Ira (Concerning Anger). It was composed in the form of an address to Novatus, Seneca’s older brother, a Roman politician, who later changed his name to Gallio when adopted by a wealthy patron of that name, and became the Roman ruler of Greece stationed in Corinth (and briefly mentioned in the New Testament book of Acts when St. Paul was arrested there; see Acts 18:12). The book is pithy, practical, and sapiential.

Seneca begins by noting that many of the wise have described anger as a “brief madness” [brevem insaniam] (4-5). [1] He adds, “it resembles nothing so much as a collapsing building that breaks apart upon that which it crushes” (6-7). More than once, Seneca notes that, unlike other emotions, anger cannot be “hidden away” or “nurtured in secret,” given that it “announces itself and comes out in the face [in faciem exit]” (9). Anger is to be avoided, because it makes a man its slave. It is best to “repel instantly the first pricklings of anger” (19).

To those who object that a good man can become angry, especially if he should see some outrageous injustice (like the killing of his father or the rape of his mother), Seneca contends that it is never right to seek to punish wrongdoers out of anger. The mature man will carry out his duties “without fear or turmoil” (23), for there is “nothing great or noble in anger” (31).

You can buy It’s Okay to Be White: The Best of Greg Johnson here.

Seneca’s discussion of anger is imminently pragmatic. One must first avoid whatever might make one fall into anger. If one fails and becomes angry, he must not do wrong because of it. The pragmatic angle leads him to offer guidance on child-rearing. Nothing produces anger in an adult more than “a soft and cloying upbringing” (41). Children, therefore, are never to be flattered or indulged.

Another key to avoiding anger is resisting the inclination to harp on the fact that one has been wronged. If one does have such a sense he must not act quickly or rashly. “One must take one’s time: a day reveals the truth [veritatem dies aperit]” (48-49). In this one might say we find the most quintessentially ideal response of Western man to dealing with his anger. Anger must be held back “pending judgement. A punishment that’s delayed can still be imposed, but once imposed, it can’t be withdrawn” (49). “Delay is the greatest remedy for anger” (67). 

The wise man will not accept every evil report with naïve credulity, nor will he get annoyed “by tiny and very petty things [minimis sordidissimisque rebus]” (50-51). “The mind must be roughly treated so that it does not feel any blows except the heavy ones” (55). It is foolishness to get mad at inconsequential and especially inanimate things. “To get angry at things that are not alive is the mark of a madman. . .” (57).

In dealing with the foibles of our fellow human beings, we must remember that none of us are without guilt. Too often, “we hold the flaws of others before our eyes but turn our backs on our own” (65). A good look at ourselves will make us more temperate with others.

It is the distinction of a great man to overlook petty wrongs and injuries. The best revenge is often to determine that the fellow who has wronged you isn’t even “worth the trouble” (83). The “great and noble” person is often “like a huge wild animal” listening “without concern as the little hunting dogs yap” (83, 85). It does not pay to become angry with anyone, regardless of their standing: “To fight with an equal is a chancy affair; with a better, insane; with an inferior, tawdry” (91). When anger arises between two persons, “the better party is the one that steps backs first” (95).

Seneca suggests anger is a universal emotion. It affects all races. “It’s as powerful among Greeks, as among barbarians” (115). It also is unique in that it affects men en masse. Never did a crowd burn at once with lust or greed, but they often seethe collectively with anger.

Another strategy for avoiding anger is to spend one’s time with those who are “calmest, most easygoing, and least anxious, and depressed” (135). Similarly, we should run away from those who will stir up our anger! When an argument goes on too long and gets too heated, we should stop and walk away. We should also understand the times when we are most vulnerable to falling into anger. This often happens when we are physically exhausted, hungry, or thirsty. An old saying suggests “quarrels are sought by the weary” (145).

We should also try to understand the particular things which anger us. “People are not all wounded in the same spot” (151). Most wrongs should be overlooked. “You want to be less angry? Ask fewer questions” (151). Some wrongs “ought to be put off until later; others, laughed off; still others, forgiven” (151). Counter to most modern pop psychology, Seneca suggests it is often best to suppress expressions of anger: “Let’s obscure its signs and keep it shrouded and secret, as much as we can” (154).

Seneca closes his reflections by urging his readers to take up the Stoic practice at the close of each day of reviewing all of one’s actions and words: “When the daylight has faded from view. . . . I become an inspector and reexamine the course of my day, my deeds and words. I hide nothing from myself, I omit nothing” (191). Most importantly, one should always call to mind his mortality: “Nothing will aid us more than the contemplation of our mortality [Nec ulla res magis proderit quam cogatio mortalitatis].” (196-197). He ends with this hope: “Let no man hate my corpse on its bier” (203).

There is much to be learned from the ancients. For those who struggle with anger, Seneca’s book will prove a helpful tonic. Though Seneca notes the universality of anger among all races, his work also provides insight into the distinctive Western tradition that discourages spontaneous, angry outbursts, while promoting self-control, delay, getting the facts straight, fair judgment, and sober-self-reckoning. Perhaps this is why we look on with such dismay when non-Westerners are triggered by manipulative and deceptive media reports, lose their cool, riot in the streets, and self-defeatingly destroy their habitats. 

They have had no Senecas to guide them.

*  *  *

Counter-Currents has extended special privileges to those who donate $120 or more per year.

  • First, donor comments will appear immediately instead of waiting in a moderation queue. (People who abuse this privilege will lose it.)
  • Second, donors will have immediate access to all Counter-Currents posts. Non-donors will find that one post a day, five posts a week will be behind a “paywall” and will be available to the general public after 30 days.

To get full access to all content behind the paywall, sign up here:

Note

[1] Romm often references the original book and chapter numbers from De Ira, but for this review, I will cite only the page numbers from How to Keep Your Cool.

 

Related

  • Buddha a Führer: Mladý Emil Cioran o Německu

  • The Machiavellian Method

  • Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema

  • John Fante’s Ask the Dust

  • The British Brass Band

  • Biden’s Open Border

  • Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch

  • Equilibrium

Tags

angerbook reviewsDabney HixsondisciplinedutyemotionJames RommmortalitypassionphilosophyrelationshipsRoman literatureself-disciplineself-helpself-improvementSenecaStoicismthe classics

Previous

« Pressing the Snooze Button on the Ziological Clock

Next

» The LGBT Cult Invades Krasnik

4 comments

  1. Greg Johnson says:
    April 22, 2021 at 7:47 am

    Thanks, Dabney, for this excellent review. Seneca is one of my favorite ancient writers, and this series looks like a very useful introduction to classical practical philosophy.

    1. Dabney Hixson says:
      April 22, 2021 at 8:22 pm

      Thanks for the encouragement Greg. Yes, lots to learn from Seneca.

  2. Sergeant Badgoy says:
    April 23, 2021 at 2:22 am

    Apt timing. Being a veteran of the post 9/11 jewish wars, anger and bitterness is something that I struggle with and it has hindered my progress in life. It’s not necessarily that I want revenge but rather justice, of which I know will never come.  Thanks for this pertinent reminder.

  3. Dr. Krieger says:
    April 24, 2021 at 7:41 am

    “They have had no Senecas to guide them.”

    Unfortunately, it seems that they cannot even produce a Seneca.

Comments are closed.

If you have Paywall access,
simply login first to see your comment auto-approved.

Note on comments privacy & moderation

Your email is never published nor shared.

Comments are moderated. If you don't see your comment, please be patient. If approved, it will appear here soon. Do not post your comment a second time.

  • Recent posts

    • The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      Jim Goad

      21

    • Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Morris van de Camp

      7

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 527 Machiavellianism & More

      Counter-Currents Radio

    • Buddha a Führer: Mladý Emil Cioran o Německu

      Guillaume Durocher

    • This Weekend’s Livestream
      Greg Johnson, Pox Populi, & American Krogan on Machiavellianism & More

      Greg Johnson

    • The Machiavellian Method

      Greg Johnson

      10

    • IQ Is a Phenotype

      Spencer J. Quinn

      38

    • Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema

      Anthony Bavaria

      17

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 5

      Muriel Gantry

      1

    • Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      Jim Goad

      83

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 4

      Muriel Gantry

    • My Breakout from the Modern World: The Hungarian Day of Honour Tour 2023, Part 2

      Tizenegy

      4

    • Enoch Powell, poslední tory

      Gregory Hood

    • Dr. Roger Pearson: Doyen of Anglo-American Racial Science

      Peter Rushton

      3

    • Collateral Damage: The United Kingdom’s Lockdown Files

      Mark Gullick

      5

    • Obituary for Prof. Roger Pearson, M.Sc. (Econ.), Ph.D., (London): 1927–2023

      Mark Cotterill

      4

    • The Estonian Election & Nationalist Strategy

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      10

    • Hunter S. Thompson as Psyop

      James J. O'Meara

      8

    • Institutional Racism Explained

      Richard Knight

      8

    • A “Novel” Approach to the Understanding of Evil

      Stephen Paul Foster

      18

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 526 Cyan Quinn Reports from CPAC & More

      Counter-Currents Radio

      3

    • The Worst Week Yet: March 5-11, 2023

      Jim Goad

      23

    • John Wayne’s The Alamo & the Politics of the 1960s

      Morris van de Camp

      1

    • Thielemann Conducts Bruckner’s Eighth in Berkeley

      Donald Thoresen

      2

    • John Fante’s Ask the Dust

      Anthony Bavaria

      6

    • Remembering Gabriele D’Annunzio
      (March 12, 1863–March 1, 1938)

      Greg Johnson

      4

    • This Weekend’s Livestream
      Cyan Quinn on CPAC, Project Veritas, Jan. 6, & East Palestine

      Greg Johnson

      4

    • Do You Have What It Takes to be a Dissident?

      Spencer J. Quinn

      43

    • Personal Finance Tips for Dissidents

      David Lewis

      20

    • Survival of the Fittest: Interview with Alexander Deptolla of Kampf der Nibelungen

      Ondrej Mann

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 3

      Muriel Gantry

    • Dr. Roger Pearson on His Life & Work

      Dr. Roger Pearson

      6

    • 40,000 Brown Sardines Packed Into One Prison

      Jim Goad

      71

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 2

      Muriel Gantry

    • The Banshees of Inisherin

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      3

    • The Quiet Man: John Foxx’s Ultravox!

      Mark Gullick

      12

    • The British Brass Band

      Alex Graham

      6

    • Curriculum Vitae of Muriel Gantry, Part 1

      Muriel Gantry

      2

    • Charles de Gaulle a válka v Alžírsku

      Jean-Marie Le Pen

    • CPAC 2023: The Republican Party is Dying Out

      Cyan Quinn

      27

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 525 On Capitalism, Socialism, & the Ethnostate

      Counter-Currents Radio

      10

    • Remembering the German POW Camp at Bretzenheim

      Clarissa Schnabel

      11

    • Daylight Savings as Maladaptive Faustianism

      James Dunphy

      1

    • The Abolitionists as Virtue-Signalers: Nehemiah Adams & A South-side View of Slavery

      Spencer J. Quinn

      22

    • Biden’s Open Border

      Morris van de Camp

      2

    • Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch

      Steven Clark

      12

    • Equilibrium

      Buttercup Dew

      1

    • This Weekend’s Livestream
      Capitalism, Socialism, & the Ethnostate

      Greg Johnson

      8

    • Forgotten Roots of the Left: Fichte’s Moral & Political Philosophy, Part III

      Collin Cleary

      1

    • The Elite Are Those Who Refuse to Lie

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      22

  • Classics Corner

    • The Searchers

      Trevor Lynch

      29

    • Gabriele D’Annunzio

      Jonathan Bowden

      2

    • Remembering A. R. D. “Rex” Fairburn (February 2, 1904–March 25, 1957)

      Greg Johnson

      1

    • Denis Kearney & the Struggle for a White America

      Theodore J. O'Keefe

      1

    • Posthuman Prospects:
      Artificial Intelligence, Fifth Generation Warfare, & Archeofuturism

      Christopher Pankhurst

      5

    • Earnest Sevier Cox:
      Advocate for the White Ethnostate

      Morris van de Camp

      15

    • Remembering Jack London
      (January 12, 1876–November 22, 1916)

      Greg Johnson

      2

    • Remembering Robinson Jeffers:
      January 10, 1887–January 20, 1962

      John Morgan

      3

    • Remembering Pierre Drieu La Rochelle:
      January 3, 1893–March 15, 1945

      Greg Johnson

    • Remembering Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865-January 18, 1936)

      Greg Johnson

      10

    • Restoring White Homelands

      Greg Johnson

      34

    • Remembering Hinton Rowan Helper

      Spencer J. Quinn

      11

    • What’s Wrong with Diversity?

      Greg Johnson

      10

    • Redefining the Mainstream

      Greg Johnson

      3

    • Edward Alsworth Ross:
      American Metapolitical Hero

      Morris van de Camp

      8

    • The Talented Mr. Ripley & Purple Noon

      Trevor Lynch

      19

    • Christmas & the Yuletide:
      Light in the Darkness

      William de Vere

      3

    • Thanksgiving Special 
      White Men Meet Indians:
      Jamestown & the Clash of Civilizations

      Thomas Jackson

    • Colin Wilson’s The Outsider

      Sir Oswald Mosley

      4

    • Dostoyevsky on the Jews

      William Pierce

      4

    • Jefferson &/or Mussolini, Part 1

      Ezra Pound

      5

    • I Listened to Chapo Trap House So You Don’t Have To

      Doug Huntington

      98

    • The Homeric Gods

      Mark Dyal

      13

    • Toward a Baltic-Black Sea Union:
      “Intermarium” as a Viable Model for White Revival

      Émile Durand

      55

    • The Politics of Nuclear War, Part 3

      John Morgan

      30

    • The Politics of Nuclear War, Part 2

      John Morgan

      6

    • Columbus Day Special
      The Autochthony Argument

      Greg Johnson

      9

    • The Politics of Nuclear War, Part 1

      John Morgan

      8

    • The Jewish Question for Normies

      Alan Smithee

      13

    • Human Biodiversity for Normies

      Alan Smithee

      10

  • Paroled from the Paywall

    • How to Prepare for an Emergency

      Beau Albrecht

    • Henry Mayhew’s London Labour & the London Poor

      Mark Gullick

      1

    • The American Regime

      Thomas Steuben

      3

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 12: Liberty — Equality — Fraternity: On the Meaning of a Republican Slogan

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Eggs Benedict Option

      Howe Abbott-Hiss

    • Religion & Eugenics

      Paul Popenoe

      2

    • Ian Kershaw’s Personality & Power

      Margot Metroland

      3

    • Correspondence between Gaston-Armand Amaudruz & Julius Evola

      Gaston-Armand Amaudruz & Julius Evola

      1

    • David Duke & Louisiana’s 1991 Gubernatorial Election

      Morris van de Camp

      4

    • A Woman’s Guide to Identifying Psychopaths, Part 7 More of the Most Common Jobs for Psychopaths

      James Dunphy

      1

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 521 Daily Zoomer & Spencer J. Quinn Discuss The No College Club

      Counter-Currents Radio

      1

    • Traditional French Songs from Le Poème Harmonique

      Alex Graham

      1

    • The Whale

      Steven Clark

      4

    • The Wave: Fascism Reenacted in a High School

      Beau Albrecht

      6

    • What Went Wrong with America’s Universities?

      Stephen Paul Foster

      3

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 520 Inside Serbia with Marko of Zentropa

      Counter-Currents Radio

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 4: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 3: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 2: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 11, Part 1: “Multitudes” Against the People

      Alain de Benoist

      1

    • The Secret of My Success

      Steven Clark

      2

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 519 An Update on South America on The Writers’ Bloc

      Counter-Currents Radio

      1

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 10, Part 2: The Ambiguity of “Communitarianism”

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Populist Moment, Chapter 10, Part 1: The Ambiguity of “Communitarianism”

      Alain de Benoist

    • The Eternal Fedora

      Nicholas R. Jeelvy

      16

    • The Kennedy Assassination & Misreading Data

      Morris van de Camp

      18

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 518 Blair Cottrell & Josh Neal on The Myth of Mental Illness

      Counter-Currents Radio

    • The Bene Gesserit Books: Frank Herbert’s Heretics of Dune & Chapterhouse: Dune

      Greg Johnson

      3

    • Tár: Reflections on the Artist vs. the Hive

      Steven Clark

    • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 517 Special Hangover Stream on The Writers’ Bloc

      Counter-Currents Radio

      5

  • Recent comments

    • Vehmgericht

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      Would that be Hope not Hate, the deep-pocketed antifa outfit whose virulently anti-white agit-prop...

    • Buttercup

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Women doing powerlifting seems pretty contrary to gender norms, so it's a bad argument to use...

    • OMC

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      If I said the right magic words, I could use the women’s locker room at my gym, despite anyone else’...

    • Francis XB

      Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema

      “Ocean is at war with Eastasia,”   Should be:  "Oceania is at war with Eastasia." A...

    • JinAJ

      Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      Here it is : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gk9Z_fdzG9g. [1h 47m]

    • John

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      “[W]hite Canadian”.  No need to include White with Canadian as Canada, not unlike USA, Australia, NZ...

    • Deodato

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      The 1967 film Dutchman makes me think of another 1967 B&W film featuring the NYC subway. The...

    • Spanish is a European language

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      I’ve vacillated on this topic over the years. I grew up eating, breathing, playing and following...

    • JinAJ

      Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      Check out 'Rio Conchos' w/Richard Boone - full movie was/is on ewe-tube.

    • Beau Albrecht

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      There are several problems with this ideology.  For one thing, there's a lot of pressure on...

    • FromNorth

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Rowling is a perfect example of the schizophrenic world-view of moderate leftists. She's clearly not...

    • Scott

      Do You Have What It Takes to be a Dissident?

      >> SCOTT wrote: “The Federal government even actively recruits Mormons at the Universities for...

    • Middle Class Twit

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      I'm currently involved in one of the campaigns against migrant hotels in Britain. Coming face to...

    • Antipodean

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      Second World War happened because the British made a guarantee to Poland for its security which they...

    • Scott

      Do You Have What It Takes to be a Dissident?

      That is all well and good, Will, but things are not true just because some people say they are. It...

    • Xin Loi

      Harry Potter & the Prisoner of the Trans Phenomenon

      "To ban porn or trans medication (impossible)?" Of course it's not impossible! What a presentist...

    • Fred C. Dobbs

      The Worst Week Yet: March 12-18, 2023

      Hilarious

    • BTI

      Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema

      Lynch's reviews are far more entertaining than the movies.

    • SmithsFan84

      Hunter S. Thompson as Psyop

      In The Venture Brothers cartoon show, Colonel Hunter Gathers is based off Hunter Thompson supposedly...

    • J Webb

      Race and Ethics in John Ford’s Stagecoach

      A young Stephen Spielberg recounts a memorable encounter with John Ford in his latest film, The...

  • Book Authors

    • Alain de Benoist
    • Anthony M. Ludovici
    • Beau Albrecht
    • Buttercup Dew
    • Charles Krafft
    • Christopher Pankhurst
    • Collin Cleary
    • F. Roger Devlin
    • Fenek Solère
    • Francis Parker Yockey
    • Greg Johnson
    • Gregory Hood
    • H. L. Mencken
    • Irmin Vinson
    • J. A. Nicholl
    • James J. O’Meara
    • Jef Costello
    • Jim Goad
    • Jonathan Bowden
    • Juleigh Howard-Hobson
    • Julius Evola
    • Kerry Bolton
    • Leo Yankevich
    • Michael Polignano
    • Multiple authors
    • Savitri Devi
    • Spencer J. Quinn
    • Tito Perdue
    • Trevor Lynch
  • Webzine Authors

    Editor-in-Chief

    • Greg Johnson, Ph.D.

    Featured Writers

    • Beau Albrecht
    • Morris V. de Camp
    • Jim Goad
    • Mark Gullick, Ph.D.
    • Greg Johnson, Ph.D.
    • Spencer Quinn

    Frequent Writers

    • Aquilonius
    • Anthony Bavaria
    • Alain de Benoist
    • Kerry Bolton, Ph.D.
    • Collin Cleary, Ph.D.
    • Jef Costello
    • F. Roger Devlin, Ph.D.
    • Stephen Paul Foster, Ph.D.
    • Alex Graham
    • Richard Houck
    • Margot Metroland
    • John Morgan
    • Trevor Lynch
    • James J. O’Meara
    • Kathryn S.
    • Thomas Steuben
    • Michael Walker

    Classic Authors

    • Maurice Bardèche
    • Jonathan Bowden
    • Julius Evola
    • Guillaume Faye
    • Ernst Jünger
    • Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D.
    • D. H. Lawrence
    • Charles Lindbergh
    • Jack London
    • H. P. Lovecraft
    • Anthony M. Ludovici
    • Sir Oswald Mosley
    • National Vanguard
    • Friedrich Nietzsche
    • Revilo Oliver
    • William Pierce
    • Ezra Pound
    • Saint-Loup
    • Savitri Devi
    • Carl Schmitt
    • Miguel Serrano
    • Oswald Spengler
    • P. R. Stephensen
    • Jean Thiriart
    • John Tyndall
    • Dominique Venner
    • Leo Yankevich
    • Francis Parker Yockey

    Other Authors

    • Howe Abbott-Hiss
    • Michael Bell
    • Buttercup Dew
    • Giles Corey
    • Bain Dewitt
    • Jack Donovan
    • Richardo Duchesne, Ph.D.
    • Emile Durand
    • Guillaume Durocher
    • Mark Dyal
    • Fullmoon Ancestry
    • Tom Goodroch
    • Andrew Hamilton
    • Robert Hampton
    • Huntley Haverstock
    • Derek Hawthorne
    • Gregory Hood
    • Juleigh Howard-Hobson
    • Alexander Jacob
    • Nicholas Jeelvy
    • Ruuben Kaalep
    • Tobias Langdon
    • Julian Langness
    • Travis LeBlanc
    • Patrick Le Brun
    • G A Malvicini
    • John Michael McCloughlin
    • Millennial Woes
    • Michael O’Meara
    • Christopher Pankhurst
    • Michael Polignano
    • J. J. Przybylski
    • Quntilian
    • Edouard Rix
    • C. B. Robertson
    • C. F. Robinson
    • Herve Ryssen
    • Alan Smithee
    • Fenek Solere
    • Ann Sterzinger
    • Robert Steuckers
    • Tomislav Sunic
    • Donald Thoresen
    • Marian Van Court
    • Irmin Vinson
    • Aylmer Wedgwood
    • Scott Weisswald
  • Departments

    • Book Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • TV Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Art Criticism
    • Graphic Novels & Comics
    • Video Game Reviews
    • Fiction
    • Poems
    • Interviews
    • Videos
    • English Translations
    • Other Languages
      • Arabic
      • Bulgarian
      • Croatian
      • Czech
      • Danish
      • Dutch
      • Estonian
      • Finnish
      • French
      • German
      • Greek
      • Hungarian
      • Italian
      • Lithuanian
      • Norwegian
      • Polish
      • Portuguese
      • Romanian
      • Russian
      • Slovak
      • Spanish
      • Swedish
      • Ukrainian
    • Commemorations
    • Why We Write
  • Archives
  • Top 100 Commenters
Sponsored Links
Above Time Coffee Antelope Hill Publishing Paul Waggener Asatru Folk Assembly IHR Breakey Imperium Press American Renaissance The Patrick Ryan Show Jim Goad The Occidental Observer
Donate Now Mailing list
Books for sale
  • El Manifiesto Nacionalista Blanco
  • An Artist of the Right
  • Ernst Jünger
  • Reuben
  • The Partisan
  • Trevor Lynch’s Classics of Right-Wing Cinema
  • The Enemy of Europe
  • Imperium
  • Reactionary Modernism
  • Manifesto del Nazionalismo Bianco
  • O Manifesto Nacionalista Branco
  • Vade Mecum
  • Whiteness: The Original Sin
  • Space Vixen Trek Episode 17: Tomorrow the Stars
  • The Year America Died
  • Passing the Buck
  • Mysticism After Modernism
  • Gold in the Furnace
  • Defiance
  • Forever & Ever
  • Wagner’s Ring & the Germanic Tradition
  • Resistance
  • Materials for All Future Historians
  • Love Song of the Australopiths
  • White Identity Politics
  • Here’s the Thing
  • Trevor Lynch: Part Four of the Trilogy
  • Graduate School with Heidegger
  • It’s Okay to Be White
  • The World in Flames
  • The White Nationalist Manifesto
  • From Plato to Postmodernism
  • The Gizmo
  • Return of the Son of Trevor Lynch’s CENSORED Guide to the Movies
  • Toward a New Nationalism
  • The Smut Book
  • The Alternative Right
  • My Nationalist Pony
  • Dark Right: Batman Viewed From the Right
  • The Philatelist
  • Confessions of an Anti-Feminist
  • East and West
  • Though We Be Dead, Yet Our Day Will Come
  • White Like You
  • Numinous Machines
  • Venus and Her Thugs
  • Cynosura
  • North American New Right, vol. 2
  • You Asked For It
  • More Artists of the Right
  • Extremists: Studies in Metapolitics
  • The Homo & the Negro
  • Rising
  • The Importance of James Bond
  • In Defense of Prejudice
  • Confessions of a Reluctant Hater (2nd ed.)
  • The Hypocrisies of Heaven
  • Waking Up from the American Dream
  • Green Nazis in Space!
  • Truth, Justice, and a Nice White Country
  • Heidegger in Chicago
  • End of an Era: Mad Men & the Ordeal of Civility
  • Sexual Utopia in Power
  • What is a Rune? & Other Essays
  • Son of Trevor Lynch’s White Nationalist Guide to the Movies
  • The Lightning & the Sun
  • The Eldritch Evola
  • Western Civilization Bites Back
  • New Right vs. Old Right
  • Journey Late at Night: Poems and Translations
  • The Non-Hindu Indians & Indian Unity
  • I do not belong to the Baader-Meinhof Group
  • Pulp Fascism
  • The Lost Philosopher
  • Trevor Lynch’s A White Nationalist Guide to the Movies
  • And Time Rolls On
  • Artists of the Right: Resisting Decadence
  • North American New Right, Vol. 1
  • Some Thoughts on Hitler
  • Tikkun Olam and Other Poems
  • Summoning the Gods
  • Taking Our Own Side
  • Reuben
  • The Node
  • The New Austerities
  • Morning Crafts
  • The Passing of a Profit & Other Forgotten Stories
Copyright © 2023 Counter-Currents Publishing, Ltd.

Paywall Access





Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password.

Edit your comment