Seneca the Younger Quotes
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What-so-ever the mind has ordained for itself, it has achieved
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The soul has this proof of divinity: that divine things delight it.
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This is the reason we cannot complain of life: it keeps no one against his will.
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What with our hooks, snares, nets, and dogs, we are at war with all living creatures, and nothing comes amiss but that which is either too cheap or too common; and all this is to gratify a fantastical palate.
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Do what you should, not what you may.
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Choose as a guide one whom you will admire more when you see him act than when you hear him speak.
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The most miserable mortals are they that deliver themselves up to their palates, or to their lusts; the pleasure is short, and turns presently nauseous, and the end of it is either shame or repentance.
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Let us cherish and love old age; for it is full of pleasure, if you know how to use it. The best morsel is reserved for last.
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A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is.
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Philosophy is good advice, and no one gives good advice at the top of his lungs.
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A disease is farther on the road to being cured when it breaks forth from concealment and manifests its power.
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But when you are looking on anyone as a friend when you do not trust him as you trust yourself, you are making a grave mistake, and have failed to grasp sufficiently the full force of true friendship.
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That comes too late that comes for the asking.
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It's a vice to trust all, and equally a vice to trust none.
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Why does no one confess his sins? Because he is yet in them. It is for a man who has awoke from sleep to tell his dreams.
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It is within the power of every man to live his life nobly, but of no man to live forever. Yet so many of us hope that life will go on forever, and so few aspire to live nobly.
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Of war men ask the outcome, not the cause.
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Life is short and art is long.
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Let the weary at length possess quiet rest.
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Remember that pain has this most excellent quality. If prolonged it cannot be severe, and if severe it cannot be prolonged.
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If you wish to be loved, love.
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Unfamiliarity lends weight to misfortune, and there was never a man whose grief was not heightened by surprise.
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If you are bent on assuming a pose and never reveal yourself to anyone frankly, in the fashion of many who live a false life that is all made up for show; for it is torturous to be constantly watching oneself and be fearful of being caught out of our usual role. And we are never free from concern if we think that every time anyone looks at us he is always taking-our measure; for many things happen that strip off our pretence against our will, and, though all this attention to self is successful, yet the life of those who live under a mask cannot be happy and without anxiety.
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We never reflect how pleasant it is to ask for nothing.