Seneca was not cold or emotionless — he loved deeply and lost painfully. But he believed that to be wise is to accept the limits of your influence. When he was exiled unjustly by Emperor Claudius, he did not rage. He wrote. When his wife was endangered by Nero, he prepared her mind with philosophy. He did not control the waves, but he mastered the oars. His life was a training ground for emotional clarity in the face of injustice.