Letter 70: On the Proper Time to Slip the Cable

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Letter 70 is one of Seneca's most famous and controversial letters. It addresses the question of suicide or, as the Stoics preferred to think of it, rational self-dissolution. The letter is remarkable for its frankness, its emotional power, and its insistence that the decision to die belongs to the individual, not to fate.

Just as I choose the ship in which I sail and the house in which I live, so I shall choose the time and manner of my death. The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can. He will consider not how long he lives, but how well. — Seneca, Letter 70

Seneca presents a series of examples of people who have chosen death over a life that was no longer worth living: a Spartan boy who refused to be a slave, a German prisoner who requested a lavatory break and then dashed his head against the wall, a gladiator who rammed a sponge down his throat. These are not examples of despair but of dignity. The Stoic does not cling to life at any cost. Life is a gift, but it is not an unconditional one.

When Is Life No Longer Worth Living?

This is the central question of the letter. Seneca's answer is characteristically Stoic: life is worth living as long as it allows us to exercise virtue. When the capacity for virtuous action is permanently lost through extreme pain, terminal illness, incurable mental deterioration, or the loss of moral freedom then the rational choice may be to leave.

Seneca is careful to distinguish this from the casual or impulsive suicide of despair. The Stoic does not choose death out of fear or depression but out of a calm, rational assessment of circumstances. Death is not an evil. Why should I fear it? It is the last act of nature. It is the end of the play.

The Harbour Is Always Open

Epictetus later used the same metaphor: The door is always open. The Stoics did not believe that suicide was always permissible, but they did believe that there were circumstances in which it was the wise and virtuous choice. The key is that the decision must be made rationally, not emotionally, and it must be motivated by a love of virtue, not by a hatred of life.

The man who dies because he is in pain is a weakling, a coward; the man who lives only to suffer is a fool. But the man who dies not because he is in pain but because he has had enough of life is wise. — Seneca, Letter 70

Continue to Letter 76: On Learning Wisdom in Old Age or return to Letters to Lucilius: An Overview.