The mundaneness of some of the conversation annoyed me. The movie is a good representation of why you shouldn’t value externals; one should be happy only with what one has control and agency over—namely, virtues. A relationship is meant to enhance one’s life, like a fine wine; it shouldn’t be the thing that determines whether one is happy or not.

Being sad over the death of a loved one is like being sad that your favorite leaf fell from the tree in autumn—why be sad over the inevitable and expected? One should be happy for the life God (metaphorically) has given us. Like an actor in a play, when the play is over and we have to leave the stage, there is no sense in weeping over it, for we have played our part.

I am also not a fan of the type of relationship the movie portrays. This kind of “love at first glance,” where the heroine has a long-term relationship with her partner but, after hearing a complete stranger on the radio once, is ready to give everything up, is the antithesis of what I believe a relationship should be. Love should be a slow process in which the bond grows stronger over time, with every experience and obstacle overcome. Love is not something that just happens; it needs to be worked for. It is more like a plant that needs to be watered and cared for daily to grow stronger and more beautiful, or like two vines intertwining, never letting go of each other—a gradual merging of two souls into one.

Besides that, it’s a fine romance. The actress has a very cute smile. 6/10.

And what is this Good? It is a clear and flawless mind, which rivals that of God, raised far above mortal concerns, and counting nothing of its own to be outside itself.
You are a reasoning animal. What Good, then, lies within you? Perfect reason. Are you willing to develop this to its farthest limits — to its greatest degree of increase? Only consider yourself happy when all your joys are born of reason, and when — having marked all the objects which men clutch at, or pray for, or watch over — you find nothing which you will desire; mind, I do not say prefer.

Here is a short rule by which to measure yourself, and by the test of which you may feel that you have reached perfection:
“You will come to your own when you shall understand that those whom the world calls fortunate are really the most unfortunate of all.

~ Seneca, On the True Good as Attained by Reason

No man is good by chance. Virtue is something which must be learned. Pleasure is low, petty, to be deemed worthless, shared even by dumb animals — the tiniest and meanest of whom fly towards pleasure. Glory is an empty and fleeting thing, lighter than air. Poverty is an evil to no man unless he kick against the goads. Death is not an evil; why need you ask? Death alone is the equal privilege of mankind.

~ Seneca, On the Conflict between Pleasure and Virtue