Seneca the Younger Quotes
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Injustice never rules forever.
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There is nothing more despicable than an old man who has no other proof than his age to offer of his having lived long in the world.
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Humanity is fortunate, because no man is unhappy except by his own fault.
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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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An old man at school is a contemptible and ridiculous object.
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A crowd of fellow-sufferers is a miserable kind of comfort.
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The great pilot can sail even when his canvass is rent.
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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 first step towards amendment is the recognition of error.
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The origin of all mankind was the same; it is only a clear and good conscience that makes a man noble, for that is derived from heaven itself.
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A dwarf can stand on a mountain, he's no taller.
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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 sometimes pleasant even to act like a madman.
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Make haste to live, and consider each day a life.
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Hesitation is the best cure for anger. The first blows of anger are heavy, but if it waits, it will think again.
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To the believers it is true. To the wise it is false. To the leaders it is useful.
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Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardship of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die.
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In my own time there have been inventions of this sort, transparent windows tubes for diffusing warmth equally through all parts of a building short-hand, which has been carried to such a perfection that a writer can keep pace with the most rapid speaker. But the inventing of such things is drudgery for the lowest slaves; philosophy lies deeper. It is not her office to teach men how to use their hands. The object of her lessons is to form the soul.
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To see a man fearless in dangers, untainted with lusts, happy in adversity, composed in a tumult, and laughing at all those things which are generally either coveted or feared, all men must acknowledge that this can be from nothing else but a beam of divinity that influences a mortal body.
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Light griefs are plaintive , but great ones are dumb
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As long as we are among humans, let us be humane.
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Those who pass their lives in foreign travel find they contract many ties of hospitality, but form no friendships.
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As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit
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Dissembling profiteth nothing; a feigned countenance, and slightly forged externally, deceiveth but very few.