Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Senecawas a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionStatesman
equal strive
To strive with an equal is dangerous; with a superior, mad; with an inferior, degrading.
hard suffer suffering sweet
What was hard to suffer is sweet to remember.
tool
A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.
learning
As long as you live, keep learning how to live.
birthday death fear last
The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.
excellence quality quantity rather
It is quality rather than quantity that matters.
courage dare difficult
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
individuality life
A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature.
punishment whip
There is no person so severely punished, as those who subject themselves to the whip of their own remorse.
dislike mind prefer sign
It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and to prefer things in measure to things in excess.
anger stored vessel
Anger: an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.
adversity affect external mind powerful
The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man... It is more powerful than external circumstances.
beyond both either existence ignorant life men middle people transcends
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.
dumb envy speakers-and-speaking
When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.