Seneca the Younger Quotes

That poverty is no disaster is understood by everyone who has not yet succumbed to the madness of greed and luxury that turns everything topsy-turvy.

I know that nothing comes to pass but what God appoints; our fate is decreed, and things do not happen by chance, but every man's portion of joy and sorrow is predetermined.

The foremost art of Kings is the power to endure hatred.

Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. -Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium

Philosophy is good advice, and no one gives good advice at the top of his lungs.

A thing seriously pursued affords true enjoyment.

Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living man.

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.

He who blushes at riding in a rattletrap, will boast when he rides in style.

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.

It's all in your headJ you have the power to make things seem hard or easy or even amusing. The choice is yours.

Everyone rushes his life on, and suffers from a yearning for the future and a boredom with the present. But that man who devotes every hour to his own needs, who plans every day as if it were his last, neither longs for nor fears tomorrow.

When once ambition has passed its natural limits, its progress is boundless.

The book-keeping of benefits is simple: it is all expenditure; if any one returns it, that is clear gain; if he does not return it, it is not lost, I gave it for the sake of giving.

Some laws, though unwritten, are more firmly established than all written laws.

Be not dazzled by beauty, but look for those inward qualities which are lasting.

A friend always loves, but he who loves is not always a friend.

The gladiator is formulating his plan in the arena or essentially Too late.

Whenever you hold a fellow creature in distress, remember that he is a man.

You find in some a sort of graceless modesty, that makes them ashamed to requite an obligation.

Associate with people who are likely to improve you.

There's one blessing only, the source and cornerstone of beatitude: confidence in self.

We are more wicked together than separately. If you are forced to be in a crowd, then most of all you should withdraw into yourself.

True praise comes often even to the lowly; false praise only to the strong.

A man who suffers or stresses before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary

It is never too late to learn what is always necessary to know.

There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage.

The deferring of anger is the best antidote to anger.

Freedom can't be bought for nothing. If you hold her precious, you must hold all else of little worth.

The man who can be compelled knows not how to die.

A good character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness.

The rust of the mind is the destruction of genius.

Principles are like seeds; they are little things which do much good, if the mind that receives them has the right attitudes.

The mind is never right but when it is at peace within itself; the soul is in heaven even while it is in the flesh, if it be purged of its natural corruptions, and taken up with divine thoughts, and contemplations.

Elegance is not an ornament worthy of man.

If virtue precede us every step will be safe.

Nothing is void of God, his work is everywhere his full of himself.

Concealed anger is to be feared; but hatred openly manifested destroys its chance of revenge.

Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness.

Some cures are worse than the dangers they combat.

Now we are not merely to stick knowledge on to the soul: we must incorporate it into her; the soul should not be sprinkled with knowledge but steeped in it.

There is nothing wrong with changing a plan when the situation has changed.

For men in a state of freedom had thatch for their shelter, while slavery dwells beneath marble and gold.

No one can be despised by another until he has learned to despise himself.

Virtue needs a director and guide. Vice can be learned even without a teacher.

Money does all things for reward. Some are pious and honest as long as they thrive upon it, but if the devil himself gives better wages, they soon change their party.

To govern was to serve, not to rule.

A king is he who has laid fear aside and the base longings of an evil heart; whom ambition unrestrained and the fickle favor of the reckless mob move not.