How to Give : An Ancient Guide to Giving and Receiving

Seneca; Romm, James S. (EDT)

ISBN 10: 069119209X / ISBN 13: 9780691192093

Published by Princeton University Press, 2020

About this Item

Unread book in perfect condition.

Seller Inventory # 40994281

Bibliographic Details

• Title: How to Give : An Ancient Guide to Giving and Receiving
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 069119209X
• ISBN 13: 9780691192093
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

Timeless wisdom on generosity and gratitude from the great Stoic philosopher Seneca

To give and receive well may be the most human thing you can do―but it is also the closest you can come to divinity. So argues the great Roman Stoic thinker Seneca (c. 4 BCE–65 CE) in his longest and most searching moral treatise, “On Benefits” (De Beneficiis). James Romm’s splendid new translation of essential selections from this work conveys the heart of Seneca’s argument that generosity and gratitude are among the most important of all virtues.

For Seneca, the impulse to give to others lies at the very foundation of society; without it, we are helpless creatures, worse than wild beasts. But generosity did not arise randomly or by chance. Seneca sees it as part of our desire to emulate the gods, whose creation of the earth and heavens stands as the greatest gift of all. Seneca’s soaring prose captures his wonder at that gift, and expresses a profound sense of gratitude that will inspire today’s readers.

Complete with an enlightening introduction and the original Latin on facing pages, How to Give is a timeless guide to the profound significance of true generosity.

About the Author

James Romm is the editor and translator of Seneca’s How to Keep Your Cool and How to Die (both Princeton) and the author of Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Review of Books, and the London Review of Books, among other publications. He is the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College and lives in Barrytown, New York.