Seneca the Younger Quotes

He invites the commission of a crime who does not forbid it, when it is in his power to do so.

How many discoveries are reserved for the ages to come when our memory shall be no more, for this world of ours contains matter for investigation for all generations.

The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.

Philosophy's power to blunt all the blows of circumstance is beyond belief.

Anger is like those ruins which smash themselves on what they fall.

Who timidly requests invites refusal.

The swiftness of time is infinite, as is still more evident when we look back on the past.

Anyone can stop a man's life, but no one his death; a thousand doors open on to it.

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.

It’s in the very trickery that it pleases me. But show me how the trick is done, and I have lost my interest therein.

Familiarity reduces the greatness of things.

A benefit consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.

You can only acquire it successfully if you cease to feel any sense of shame.

There are a few men whom slavery holds fast, but there are many more who hold fast to slavery.

A good mind possesses a kingdom.

Life is long if it is full.

To meditate an injury is to commit one.

We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods.

On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!

It is difficult to bring people to goodness with lessons, but it is easy to do so by example.

It is a common thing to screw up justice to the pitch of an injury. A man may be over-righteous, and why not over-grateful, too? There is a mischievous excess that borders so close upon ingratitude that it is no easy matter to distinguish the one from the other; but, in regard that there is good-will in the bottom of it, however distempered; for it is effectually but kindness out of the wits.

Time is the greatest remedy for anger.

Tis not the belly's hunger that costs so much, but its pride

No one should feel pride in anything that is not his own.

We ought to take outdoor walks, to refresh and raise our spirits by deep breathing in the open air.

In a moment the ashes are made, but a forest is a long time growing.

I was not born for one corner. The whole world is my native land.

Fortune can take away riches, but not courage.

Everything that exceeds the bounds of moderation has an unstable foundation.

Philosophy alone makes the mind invincible, and places us out of the reach of fortune, so that all her arrows fall short of us.

It is the characteristic of a weak and diseased mind to fear the unfamiliar.

Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in Nature.

There is no greater punishment of wickedness that that it is dissatisfied with itself and its deeds.

Leave in concealment what has long been concealed.

Philosophy is the art and law of life, and it teaches us what to do in all cases, and, like good marksmen, to hit the white at any distance.

Refuse to let the thought of death bother you: nothing is grim when we have escaped that fear.

When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.

Real improvement is of slow growth only.

The way to good conduct is never too late.

Our minds must relax: they will rise better and keener after rest. Just as you must not force fertile farmland, as uninterrupted productivity will soon exhaust it, so constant effort will sap our mental vigour, while a short period of rest and relaxation will restore our powers. Unremitting effort leads to a kind of mental dullness and lethargy.

Let the weary at length possess quiet rest.

Those who pass their lives in foreign travel find they contract many ties of hospitality, but form no friendships.

Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other; yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely; for science is but one.

The man who while he gives thinks of what he will get in return, deserves to be deceived.

Consider an enemy may become a friend.

Who has more leisure than a worm?

Success consecrates the most offensive crimes.

Refrain from following the example of those whose craving is for attention, not their own improvement.