Seneca the Younger Quotes
-
What a vile and abject thing is man if he do not raise himself above humanity.
-
Let tears flow of their own accord; their flowing is not inconsistent with inward peace and harmony.
-
Men trust their eyes rather than their ears; the road by precept is long and tedious, by example short and effectual.
-
Bear in mind that you commit a crime by injuring even a wicked brother.
-
This body is not a home, but an inn; and that only for a short time.
-
Gold is tried by fire, brave men by adversity.
-
Life is most delightful on the downward slope.
-
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim.
-
Sovereignty over any foreign land is insecure.
-
A man afraid of death will never play the part of a live man.
-
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.
-
Watch over yourself. Be your own accuser, then your judge; ask yourself grace sometimes, and, if there is need, impose upon yourself some pain.
-
Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears; the effect of precepts is therefore slow and tedious, whilst that of examples is summary and effectual.
-
We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them.
-
My advice is really this: what we hear the philosophers saying and what we find in their writings should be applied in our pursuit of the happy life. We should hunt out the helpful pieces of teaching and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application-not far far-fetched or archaic expressions or extravagant metaphors and figures of speech-and learn them so well that words become works.
-
The thing that matters is not what you bear, but how you bear it
-
Just as so many rivers, so many showers of rain from above, so many medicinal springs do not alter the taste of the sea, so the pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man. For it maintains its balance, and over all that happens it throws its own complexion, because it is more powerful than external circumstances.
-
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
-
The wise man then followed a simple way of life-which is hardly surprising when you consider how even in this modern age he seeks to be as little encumbered as he possibly can.
-
Nothing is more hateful to wisdom than to much cunning.
-
Nature has given us the seeds of knowledge, not knowledge itself.
-
The sun shines even on the wicked.
-
Nature ever provides for her own exigencies.
-
So called pleasures, when they go beyond a certain limit, are but punishments.