Seneca the Younger Quotes
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He worships God who knows him.
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Nothing deters a good man from doing what is honourable.
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No one can lead a happy life, or even one that is bearable, without the pursuit of wisdom, and that the perfection of wisdom is what makes the happy life, although even the beginnings of wisdom make life bearable. Yet this conviction, clear as it is, needs to be strengthened and given deeper roots through daily reflection; making noble resolutions is not a important as keeping the resolutions you have made already.
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Although a man has so well purged his mind that nothing can trouble or deceive him any more, yet he reached his present innocence through sin.
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Friendship always benefits; love sometimes injures.
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Let me therefore live as if every moment were to be my last.
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An action will not be right unless the will be right; for from thence is the action derived. Again, the will will not be right unless the disposition of the mind be right; for from thence comes the will.
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I have withdrawn not only from men, but from affairs, especially my own affairs; I am working for later generations, writing down some ideas that may be of assistance to them.
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Expediency often silences justice.
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Whom the dawn sees proud, evening sees prostrate.
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The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
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Our plans miscarry because they have no aim.
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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
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No man can live happily who regards himself alone, who turns everything to his own advantage. Thou must live for another, if thou wishest to live for thyself.
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The whole discord of this world consists in discords.
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They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.
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That which we are not permitted to have we delight in; that which we can have is disregarded.
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We must take care to live not merely a long life, but a full one; for living a long life requires only good fortune, but living a full life requires character. Long is the life that is fully lived; it is fulfilled only when the mind supplies its own good qualities and empowers itself from within.
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Prudence will punish to prevent crime, not to avenge it.
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There's one blessing only, the source and cornerstone of beatitude: confidence in self.
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I do not sacrifice, but lend myself to business.
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Retire into yourself as much as possible. Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one. People learn as they teach.
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No man is born wise; but wisdom and virtue require a tutor; though we can easily learn to be vicious without a master.
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Live among others as if God beheld you; speak to God as if others were listening.