Seneca was one of the richest men in Rome but as a stoic, he knew his wealth and fame were no insurance against the vagaries of fate. When the emperor Nero demanded his suicide, he was already prepared to die. He had imagined his final day many times before as a...

A few days ago, I had a consultation with a young Irish woman who had a peculiar and frightening cancer. She and her parents were not religious but she told me, with some amusement, that her six-year-old daughter has recently taken up with God. The daughter - let's...

To be compassionate means to feel the suffering (the 'passion') of another, along with the desire to alleviate it. It involves both feeling and action, with the emphasis on the latter. This practicality is what distinguishes it from related emotions such as sympathy...

I'm not a believer. I try not to believe in anything. My world divides up into what I know and what I don't know. There is no need for me to believe in what passes for factual, well- supported truth, and as for the rest, I need to have a good reason for any...