Seneca

32 quotes

Lived: 4 BCE – 65
Era: Classical antiquity
Place: Rome / Córdoba (Hispanian roots)

Stoic philosopher and statesman; his letters counsel calm, courage, and mindful use of time.

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He who is brave is free.
— SenecaCourage
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
— SenecaCourage
Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.
— SenecaCourage
Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong people.
— SenecaStrength
Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body.
— SenecaStrength
Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time.
— SenecaStoic
What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily?
— SenecaStoic
While we are postponing, life speeds by.
— SenecaStoic
Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow's.
— SenecaStoic
I do not regard a man as poor, if the little which remains is enough for him.
— SenecaStoic
The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.
— SenecaStoic
Each day acquire something that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes as well.
— SenecaStoic
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
— SenecaStoic
Do you ask what is the proper limit to wealth? It is, first, to have what is necessary, and, second, to have what is enough.
— SenecaStoic
No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it.
— SenecaStoic
For this reason, make life as a whole agreeable to yourself by banishing all worry about it.
— SenecaStoic
I commend you and rejoice in the fact that you are persistent in your studies, and that, putting all else aside, you make it each day your endeavour to become a better man.
— SenecaStoic
Reflect that nothing except the soul is worthy of wonder; for to the soul, if it be great, naught is great.
— SenecaStoic
If you would be loved, love.
— SenecaStoic
Our ideal wise man feels his troubles, but overcomes them.
— SenecaStoic
Therefore, encourage and toughen your spirit against the mishaps that afflict even the most powerful.
— SenecaStrength
There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.
— SenecaStoic
I feel, my dear Lucilius, that I am being not only reformed, but transformed.
— SenecaStoic
Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is mutual; for men learn while they teach.
— SenecaStoic
Above all, my dear Lucilius, make this your business: learn how to feel joy.
— SenecaStoic
When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
— SenecaStoic
Let us see to it that the recollection of those whom we have lost becomes a pleasant memory to us.
— SenecaStoic
Let not the eyes be dry when we have lost a friend, nor let them overflow. We may weep, but we must not wail.
— SenecaStoic
He suffers more than is necessary, who suffers before it is necessary.
— SenecaStoic
God is near you, he is with you, he is within you.
— SenecaStoic
You must live for your neighbour, if you would live for yourself.
— SenecaStoic
Life is long enough, if you know how to use it.
— SenecaStoic