“Only the bad attempt to injure the good. Good men are at peace among themselves; bad ones are equally mischievous to the good and to one another.”
~ Seneca.
Seneca on The Mob
“…the mob is ready to fight against reason in defence of its own mistake.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Rehearsing
Seneca for instance advises “to envisage every possibility and to strengthen the spirit to deal with the things which may conceivably come about. Rehearse them in your mind: exile, torture, war, shipwreck.”
~ Seneca / Courtesy Philosophersmag
Seneca on Penance
“Philosophy calls for simple living, not for doing penance, and the simple way of life need not be a crude one.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Misfortune
“No man is crushed by misfortune unless he has first been deceived by prosperity”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Anger
“We cease to be so angry once we cease to be so hopeful.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Injuries
“He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Fortune
“That which Fortune has not given, she cannot take away.”
~ Seneca / Letters to Lucilius 59
Seneca on Suffering
“Two elements must therefore be rooted out once for all — the fear of future suffering, and the recollection of past suffering; since the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet.”
(Letters to Lucilius, LXXVIII.14)
~ Seneca
Seneca on Revenge
“The most contemptuous form of revenge is not to deem one’s adversary worth taking vengeance upon.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Wrongdoing
“Wrongdoing has no harsher penalty than this: one offends oneself, and also one’s family and friends.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Misery
“A man is as miserable as he thinks he is.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Leisure
“Leisure without study is death‚ a tomb for the living person.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Obstacles
Even if some obstacle comes on the scene, its appearance is only to be compared to that of clouds which drift in front of the sun without ever defeating its light.
~ Seneca
Seneca on Misfortune
“Others have been plundered, indiscriminately, set upon, betrayed, beaten up, attacked with poison or with calumny — mention anything you like, it has happened to plenty of people.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Calm
“To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Burdens
“If you want to escape the burdens that oppress you, you should not be somewhere else, but someone else.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Excellence
“Excellence withers without an adversary.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Revenge
“How much better to heal than seek revenge from injury.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Vices
“I am satisfied if each day I make some reduction in the number of my vices and find fault with my mistakes.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Misfortune
“Constant misfortune brings this one blessing: to whom it always assails, it eventually fortifies.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on a Small Life
“Just as one of small stature can be a perfect man, so a life of small compass can be a perfect life.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Hope
“Weigh carefully your hopes as well as your fears, and whenever all the elements are in doubt, decide in your own favour; believe what you prefer.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Malady
“It matters little whether you lay a sick man on a wooden or on a golden bed, for whithersoever he be moved he will carry his malady with him; so one need not care whether the diseased mind is bestowed upon riches or upon poverty. His malady goes with the man.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on the Crowd
“To consort with the crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make some vice attractive to us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us unconsciously therewith.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Vices
“Vices tempt you by the rewards which they offer; but in the life of which I speak, you must live without being paid.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Improvement
“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.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Poverty
“I do not regard a man as poor, if the little which remains is enough for him.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Bustle
“For love of bustle is not industry, – it is only the restlessness of a hunted mind”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Work
“Nothing is so certain as that the evils of idleness can be shaken off by hard work.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Misfortunes
“Life is full of various misfortunes that plague it, and no man enjoys a lasting peace from them, indeed scarcely a truce.”
~ Seneca
Seneca on Desire
“Do not ask for what you will wish you had not got.”
~ Seneca