Letters CIV, CV, CVII, and CVIII Summary and Analysis

Letter CIV: Seneca relates moving into the countryside in the hope that the cleaner air will have some beneficial effect upon his health. Though he does not care whether he lives or dies, he does what he can to keep his health up for his wife's sake, who loves him very much. He finds that the move has had a beneficial effect upon his studies and work ethic, but he is quick to point out that this is not due merely to a change of location. Changing one's location cannot help a person escape his troubles, because he carries his troubles with him. One cannot learn any art, let alone that greatest of all arts—wisdom—by traveling somewhere.

Instead, one is better off developing one's character such that...