Seneca the Younger Quotes
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He who asks with timidity invites a refusal.
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The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company
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He who would do great things should not attempt them all alone.
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Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to myself. . . . . . No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.
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It goes far toward making a man faithful to let him understand that you think him so; and he that does but suspect I will deceive him, gives me a sort of right to do so.
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Some laws, though unwritten, are more firmly established than all written laws.
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It is the superfluous things for which men sweat.
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An old man at school is a contemptible and ridiculous object.
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Dissembling profiteth nothing; a feigned countenance, and slightly forged externally, deceiveth but very few.
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When some state or other offered Alexander a part of its territory and half of all its property he told them that 'he hadn't come to Asia with the intention of accepting whatever they cared to give him, but of letting them keep whatever he chose to leave them.' Philosophy, likewise, tells all other occupations: 'It's not my intention to accept whatever time is leftover from you; you shall have, instead, what I reject.' Give your whole mind to her.
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On him does death lie heavily, who, but too well known to all, dies to himself unknown.
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He who comes to a conclusion when the other side is unheard, may have been just in his conclusion, but yet has not been just in his conduct.
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It is not the man who has little, but he who desires more, that is poor.
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The gladiator is formulating his plan in the arena or essentially Too late.
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The greatest wealth is a poverty of desires.
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The customs of that most criminal nation (Israel) have gained such strength that they have now been received in all lands. The conquered have given laws to the conquerors.
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Indolence is stagnation; employment is life.
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Extreme remedies are never the first to be resorted to.
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It is medicine, not scenery, for which a sick man must go searching.
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You must know for which harbor you are headed, if you are to catch the right wind to take you there.
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No work is of such merit as to instruct from a mere cursory perusal.
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No man finds it difficult to return to nature except the man who has deserted nature.
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Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: " Is this the condition that I feared?"
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Our minds must relax: they will rise better and keener after rest. Just as you must not force fertile farmland, as uninterrupted productivity will soon exhaust it, so constant effort will sap our mental vigour, while a short period of rest and relaxation will restore our powers. Unremitting effort leads to a kind of mental dullness and lethargy.