Seneca the younger, or simply Seneca, was the wealthiest man of his time (4 BC - 65 AD).

He had a bank account of 300 million dinari. That's quite a lot. You can compare it to another famous person from the exact same time, Judas. See, Judas got 30 dinari for betraying Jesus.

Wealth can easily poison the mind.

But one of the greatest Stoics of all time managed to stay close to philosophy and become one of the wisest persons ever lived.

And we should be happy about that.

Because he had some real struggles

• He was in thoughts of suicide because of his extreme asthma.

• He was exiled to Corsica for 8 years by emperor Claudius.

• He was the teacher of Nero. One of the most tyrannical emperors in Rome's history.

• He got loads of criticism for teaching Nero. And got called "tyrannodidaskalos", the tyrant teacher.

Many people asked themself if the high-ranked finance clerk and politician was a virtuous man. After all, how could he stay at the job as the teacher for Nero for so long? Was Seneca really a good man?

And who could blame them?

But look at this perspective.

How tyrannical would Nero be if Seneca didn't mentor him? The wise Stoic probably saw the alternatives and how worse it would be. Not to mention that he might have been murdered if he didn't offer his help.

And the empire would suffer even more.

Today's lesson

If you have the opportunity to help someone that you think is nonchalant, dishonest and ungrateful, do it.

That person will probably stay dishonest, but you might tilt that dishonesty a little bit. A little bit closer to something good. A little bit closer to honesty. Every time you help someone to be more virtuous, you make the world better.

Even if you can't see it.