Seneca the Younger Quotes
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Dead, we become the lumber of the world, And to that mass of matter shall be swept Where things destroyed with things unborn are kept.
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Life is divided into three periods: that which has been, that which is, that which will be. Of these the present is short, the future is doubtful, the past is certain.
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The final hour when we cease to exist does not itself bring death; it merely of itself completes the death-process. We reach death at that moment, but we have been a long time on the way.
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Freedom is not being a slave to any circumstance, to any constraint, to any chance; it means compelling Fortune to enter the lists on equal terms.
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Our posterity will wonder about our ignorance of things so plain.
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If you don't know, ask. You will be a fool for the moment, but a wise man for the rest of your life.
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Human nature is so constituted that insults sink deeper than kindnesses; the remembrance of the latter soon passes away, while that of the former is treasured in the memory.
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Let him that hath done the good office conceal it; let him that received it disclose it.
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The ascent from earth to heaven is not easy.
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If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.
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Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
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The intellect must not be kept at consistent tension, but diverted by pastimes.... The mind must have relaxation, and will rise stronger and keener after recreation.
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It is the constant fault and inseparable evil quality of ambition, that it never looks behind it.
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We deliberate about the parcels of life, but not about life itself, and so we arrive all unawares at its different epochs, and have the trouble of beginning all again. And so finally it is that we do not walk as men confidently towards death, but let death come suddenly upon us.
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You are your choices.
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There is no evil that does not promise inducements. Avarice promises money; luxury, a varied assortment of pleasures; ambition, a purple robe and applause. Vices tempt you by the rewards they offer.
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Resistance to oppression is second nature.
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Money has never yet made anyone rich.
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A crowd of fellow-sufferers is a miserable kind of comfort.
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If ever you come upon a grove of ancient trees which have grown to an exceptional height, shutting out a view of sky by a veil of pleached and intertwining branches, then the loftiness of the forest, the seclusion of the spot and your marvel at the thick unbroken shade in the midst of the open spaces, will prove to you the presence of deity.
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The greatest power of ruling consists in the exercise of self-control.
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Pain, scorned by yonder gout-ridden wretch, endured by yonder dyspeptic in the midst of his dainties, borne bravely by the girl in travail. Slight thou art, if I can bear thee, short thou art if I cannot bear thee!
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It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.
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Vice may be learnt, even without a teacher