Seneca the Younger Quotes
-
We have lost morals, justice, honor, piety and faith, and that sense of shame which, once lost, can never be restored.
-
No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley.
-
There is nothing the wise man does reluctantly.
-
Tranqility is a certain quality of mind, which no condition or fortune can either exalt or depress.
-
To rule yourself is the ultimate power
-
In a moment the ashes are made, but a forest is a long time growing.
-
Be silent as to services you have rendered, but speak of favours you have received.
-
This life is only a prelude to eternity.
-
Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool.
-
Resistance to oppression is second nature.
-
A thing seriously pursued affords true enjoyment.
-
Let him that hath done the good office conceal it; let him that received it disclose it.
-
Be not dazzled by beauty, but look for those inward qualities which are lasting.
-
Remember, not one penny can we take with us into the unknown land.
-
Abstinence is easier than temperance.
-
He invites the commission of a crime who does not forbid it, when it is in his power to do so.
-
The most imperious masters over their own servants are at the same time the most abject slaves to the servants of others.
-
Many men provoke others to overreach them by excessive suspicion; their extraordinary distrust in some sort justifies the deceit.
-
It takes the whole of life to learn how to live, and - even more surprising - it takes the whole of life to learn how to die.
-
It is only luxury and avarice that make poverty grievous to us; for it is a very small matter that does our business, and when we have provided against cold, hunger, and thirst, all the rest is but vanity and excess.
-
As Lucretius says: 'Thus ever from himself doth each man flee.' But what does he gain if he does not escape from himself? He ever follows himself and weighs upon himself as his own most burdensome companion. And so we ought to understand that what we struggle with is the fault, not of the places, but of ourselves
-
The greatest power of ruling consists in the exercise of self-control.
-
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.
-
Who can hope for nothing, should despair for nothing.