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Seneca was a Roman philosopher born around 4 BCE. He is known for his writings on Stoicism, emphasizing the importance of virtue, reason, and self-control. Seneca's works, including letters and essays, have had a lasting impact on philosophy and ethics. He served as an advisor to Emperor Nero and faced challenges in his political life. Seneca's teachings continue to be studied and respected for their insights into human nature and morality.
"There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality."
1
"Life is like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters."
"Preserve a sense of proportion in your attitude to everything that pleases you, and make the most of them while they are at their best."
"Only a mind that is deeply stirred can utter something noble and beyond the power of others."
"There is nothing so bitter that a patient mind cannot find some solace for it."
"Because thou writest me often, I thank thee ... Never do I receive a letter from thee, but immediately we are together."
"If anyone says that the best life of all is to sail the sea, and then adds that I must not sail upon a sea where shipwrecks are a common occurrence and there are often sudden storms that sweep the helmsman in an adverse direction, I conclude that this man, although he lauds navigation, really forbids me to launch my ship."
"Barley porridge, or a crust of barley bread, and water do not make a very cheerful diet, but nothing gives one keener pleasure than having the ability to derive pleasure even from that-- and the feeling of having arrived at something which one cannot be deprived of by any unjust stroke of fortune."
"Reflect that nothing merits admiration except thespirit, the impressiveness of which prevents it from being impressed by anything."
"Oh, what darkness does great prosperity cast over our minds!"
"And so when you see a man often wearing the robe of office, when you see one whose name is famous in the Forum, do not envy him; those things are bought at the price of life. They will waste all their years, in order that they may have one year reckoned by their name."
"I have learned to be a friend to myself Great improvement this indeed Such a one can never be said to be alone for know that he who is a friend to himself is a friend to all mankind."
"So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived long, just existed long. For suppose you should think that a man had had a long voyage who had been caught in a raging storm as he left harbour, and carried hither and thither and driven round and round in a circle by the rage opposing winds. He did not have a long voyage, just a long tossing about."
"However much you possess there's someone else who has more, and you'll be fancying yourself to be short of things you need to exact extent to which you lag behind him."
2
"We deceive ourselves in thinking that death only follows life whereas it both goes before and will follow after it for where is the difference in not beginning or ceasing to exist the effect of both is not to be."
"To expel hunger and thirst there is no necessity of sitting in a palace and submitting to the supercilious brow and contumelious favour of the rich and great there is no necessity of sailing upon the deep or of following the camp What nature wants is every where to be found and attainable without much difficulty whereas require the sweat of the brow for these we are obliged to dress anew j compelled to grow old in the field and driven to foreign mores A sufficiency is always at hand."
"I've come across people who say that there is a sort of inborn restlessness in the human spirit and an urge to change one's abode; for man is endowed with a mind which is changeable and and unsettled: nowhere at rest, it darts about and directs its thoughts to all places known and unknown, a wanderer which cannot endure repose and delights chiefly in novelty."
"It is regret for the absence of his loved one which causes a mourner to grieve: yet it is clear that this in itself is bearable enough; for we do not weep at their being absent or intending to be absent during their lifetime, although when they leave our sight we have no more pleasure in them. What tortures us, therefore, is an idea."
"So let those people go on weeping and wailing whose self-indulgent minds have been weakened by long prosperity, let them collapse at the threat of the most trivial injuries; but let those who have spent all their years suffering disasters endure the worst afflictions with a brave and resolute staunchness. Everlasting misfortune does have one blessing, that it ends up by toughening those whom it constantly afflicts."
"Remember that all we have is "on loan from Fortune, which can reclaim it without our permission-indeed, without even advance notice. Thus, we should love all our dear ones, but always with the thought that we have no promise that we may keep them forever-nay, no promise even that we may keep them for long."
1
"We are born under circumstances that would be favorable if we did not abandon them. It was nature's intention that there should be no need of great equipment for a good life: every individual can make himself happy."
"You are unfortunate in my judgment, for you have never been unfortunate. You have passed through life with no antagonist to face you; no one will know what you were capable of, not even you yourself."
"Our universe is a sorry little affair unless it has in it something for every age to investigate."
"Let wickedness escape as it may at the bar it never fails of doing justice upon itself for every guilty person is his own hangman."
"Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them."
"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."
"Amintirea plăcerilor este mai durabilă și mai de încredere decât prezența lor.”
"If you would wish another to keep your secret first keep it yourself."