Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The bad fortune of the good turns their faces up to heaven, the good fortune ...
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A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

For greed all nature is too little.

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party, there is no battle unless ...
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The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

A great mind becomes a great fortune.

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

A man's as miserable as he thinks he is.

A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.

A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature.

A physician is not angry at the intemperance of a mad patient, nor does he take it ill to be railed at by a man in fever. Just so should a wise man treat all mankind, as a physician does his patient, and look upon them only as sick and extravagant.

A person's fears are lighter when the danger is at hand.

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party, there is no battle unless there be two.

A punishment to some, to some a gift, and to many a favor.

A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty.

A sword never kills anybody, it is a tool in the killer's hand.

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

All cruelty springs from weakness.

All art is but imitation of nature.

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.

As long as you live, keep learning how to live.

Behold a worthy sight, to which the God, turning his attention to his own work, may direct his gaze. Behold an equal thing, worthy of a God, a brave man matched in conflict with evil fortune.

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk.

Consider, when you are enraged at any one, what you would probably think if he should die during the dispute.

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

Believe me, that was a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of builders.

Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may then be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment.

Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them.

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all.

Crime when it succeeds is called virtue.

Every guilty person is his own hangman.

Even after a bad harvest there must be sowing.

Do everything as in the eye of another.

Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in Nature. Everything is organic and living, and therefore the whole world appears to be a living organism.

Every reign must submit to a greater reign.

Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.

Everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends.

For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.

For greed all nature is too little.

Great grief does not of itself put an end to itself.

God is the universal substance in existing things. He comprises all things. He is the fountain of all being. In Him exists everything that is.

Genius always gives its best at first, prudence, at last.

He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.

He that does good to another does good also to himself.

He who has made a fair compact with poverty is rich.

He who has great power should use it lightly.

He who dreads hostility too much is unfit to rule.

I don't trust liberals, I trust conservatives.

Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.

He who is brave is free.

I never come back home with the same moral character I went out with, something or other becomes unsettled where I had achieved internal peace, some one or other of the things I had put to flight reappears on the scene.

I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good.

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.

If a man knows not what harbor he seeks, any wind is the right wind.

I will govern my life and thoughts as if the whole world were to see the one and read the other, for what does it signify to make anything a secret to my neighbor, when to God, who is the searcher of our hearts, all our privacies are open?

If you judge, investigate.

If thou art a man, admire those who attempt great things, even though they fail.

Ignorant people see life as either existence or non-existence, but wise men see it beyond both existence and non-existence to something that transcends them both, this is an observation of the Middle Way.

If you would judge, understand.

If you wished to be loved, love.

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.

In war, when a commander becomes so bereft of reason and perspective that he fails to understand the dependence of arms on Divine guidance, he no longer deserves victory.

In war there is no prize for runner-up.

It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing.

It is another's fault if he be ungrateful, but it is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man, I will oblige a great many that are not so.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and to prefer things in measure to things in excess.

It is the failing of youth not to be able to restrain its own violence.

It is quality rather than quantity that matters.

It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.

It is the superfluous things for which men sweat, - superfluous things that wear our togas theadbare, that force us to grow old in camp, that dash us upon foreign shores.

Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands.

It's not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It's because we dare not venture that they are difficult.

It makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin.

Life, if well lived, is long enough.

Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wind and the rain and the thunder in the sky. Life is matter and is earth, what is and what is not, and what beyond is in Eternity.

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

Love in its essence is spiritual fire.

Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.

Modesty forbids what the law does not.

May be is very well, but Must is the master. It is my duty to show justice without recompense.

No evil propensity of the human heart is so powerful that it may not be subdued by discipline.

Night brings our troubles to the light, rather than banishes them.

Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.

No man was ever wise by chance.

No man enjoys the true taste of life, but he who is ready and willing to quit it.

No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.

No one is laughable who laughs at himself.

No one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied to.

Nothing is so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness is it to be expecting evil before it comes.

Nothing becomes so offensive so quickly as grief. When fresh it finds someone to console it, but when it becomes chronic, it is ridiculed, and rightly.

No untroubled day has ever dawned for me.

One crime has to be concealed by another.

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

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.

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.

Shame may restrain what law does not prohibit.

Shall I tell you what the real evil is? To cringe to the things that are called evils, to surrender to them our freedom, in defiance of which we ought to face any suffering.

So live with men as if God saw you and speak to God, as if men heard you.

Slavery takes hold of few, but many take hold of slavery.

Success is not greedy, as people think, but insignificant. That is why it satisfies nobody.

Success consecrates the most offensive crimes.

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

That which is given with pride and ostentation is rather an ambition than a bounty.

That is never too often repeated, which is never sufficiently learned.

Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue.

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.

The bad fortune of the good turns their faces up to heaven, the good fortune of the bad bows their heads down to the earth.

The display of grief makes more demands than grief itself. How few men are sad in their own company.

The deferring of anger is the best antidote to anger.

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

The good things of prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.

The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin.

The first and greatest punishment of the sinner is the conscience of sin.

The heart is great which shows moderation in the midst of prosperity.

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

The mind unlearns with difficulty what it has long learned.

The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable.

The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.

The way is long if one follows precepts, but short... if one follows patterns.

The things hardest to bear are sweetest to remember.

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man... It is more powerful than external circumstances.

There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.

The wish for healing has always been half of health.

There is no person so severely punished, as those who subject themselves to the whip of their own remorse.

There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.

There is a noble manner of being poor, and who does not know it will never be rich.

Those who boast of their descent, brag on what they owe to others.

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

To keep oneself safe does not mean to bury oneself.

To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.

Time discovers truth.

We are more often frightened than hurt, and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.

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

True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.

We can be thankful to a friend for a few acres, or a little money, and yet for the freedom and command of the whole earth, and for the great benefits of our being, our life, health, and reason, we look upon ourselves as under no obligation.

We become wiser by adversity, prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation, for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.

We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered today? what passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.

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

What nature requires is obtainable, and within easy reach. It is for the superfluous we sweat.

What is true belongs to me!

What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.

Whatever one of us blames in another, each one will find in his own heart.

Where fear is, happiness is not.

When we are well, we all have good advice for those who are ill.

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

Wisdom allows nothing to be good that will not be so forever, no man to be happy but he that needs no other happiness than what he has within himself, no man to be great or powerful that is not master of himself.

While we are postponing, life speeds by.

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.

You learn to know a pilot in a storm.

Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life - in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk, and to make our words and actions all of a color.

You must live for another if you wish to live for yourself.