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
Lucius Annaeus Seneca quotes about
dry eyes merely observe shed tears
Many shed tears merely for show, and have dry eyes when no one's around to observe them.
despised hate learned until
No one can be despised by another until he has learned to despise himself.
beautiful friendship friends-or-friendship qualities understand
One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.
fools-and-foolishness hatred inflicted
A foolishness is inflicted with a hatred of itself.
cringe defiance face ought shall surrender
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.
favorable man port wind
If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him.
ancestry boasts deed praises
He who boasts of his descent, praises the deed of another.
desires fears king
He is a king who fears nothing, he is a king who desires nothing!
contentment deprived endure endured happy highest lowest man misfortune
Happy the man who can endure the highest and the lowest fortune. He, who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity, has deprived misfortune of its power.
age-and-aging among declining embrace extreme gradually love maintain pleasure reached sweetest
As for old age, embrace and love it. It abounds with pleasure if you know how to use it. The gradually declining years are among the sweetest in a man's life, and I maintain that, even when they have reached the extreme limit, they have their pleasure still.
leaders-and-leadership
He who dreads hostility too much is unfit to rule.
amiable ancestry born unless
No one is better born than another, unless they are born with better abilities and a more amiable disposition.
abandoned both desires limits moderation nature resources restricted sign utter
That moderation which nature prescribes, which limits our desires by resources restricted to our needs, has abandoned the field; it has now come to this - that to want only what is enough is a sign both of boorishness and of utter destitution.