on Constancy
Full title: A discourse of constancy in two books
The Dial's edition: London, 1654
An early English presentation of Lipsius's famous Neostoic dialogue De constantia in publicis malis ('On constancy in times of public evil'). Framed as a conversation with his friend Langius, the work argues that the turmoil of the age (war, persecution, civic disorder) can't be escaped by changing places; instead, one must cultivate constancy (a disciplined steadiness of mind grounded in reason) by correcting the judgments and passions that make 'public evils' inwardly destructive. In doing so, Lipsius offers a practical moral program that helped define Neostoicism, adapting Stoic spiritual exercises to a Christian moral horizon.
