Seneca on Possessions

“At last, then, away with all these treacherous goods! They look better to those who hope for them than to those who have attained them.”

~ Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Misdeeds

“Innocent persons sometimes perish; who would deny that? But the guilty perish more frequently.”

~ Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Possessions

“Again, let us possess nothing that can be snatched from us to the great profit of a plotting foe. Let there be as little booty as possible on your person.”

~ Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Provocation

“So the wise man will never provoke the anger of those in power; nay, he will even turn his course, precisely as he would turn from a storm if he were steering a ship.”

Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Worries

“We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.”

~ Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Betterment

“…putting all else aside, you make it each day your endeavour to become a better man.”

Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Poverty

Contented poverty is an honourable estate.

~ Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Solitude

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.

~ Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

Seneca on Luck

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Worrying

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Fortune

“In the mean time, cling tooth and nail to the following rule: not to give in to adversity, not to trust prosperity, and always take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she pleases.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Selflessness

“No one can lead a happy life if he thinks only of himself and turns everything to his own purposes. You should live for the other person if you wish to live for yourself.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Possessions

“Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realise how unnecessary many things are. We’ve been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Laughter

“It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Aimlessness

“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Trials

“No one should put too much trust in triumph. No one should give up hope of trials improving.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Expectation

“The greatest obstacle to living is expectation, which depends on tomorrow and wastes today.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Patience

“If you want to determine the nature of anything, entrust it to time: when the sea is stormy, you can see nothing clearly.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Acceptance

“All the things which cause complaint or dread are like the taxes of life—things from which … you should never hope for exemption or seek escape.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Virtue

“Never to wrong others takes one a long way towards peace of mind…A guilty person sometimes has the luck to escape detection, but never to feel sure of it.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Contentment

“The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Desire

“You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Time

“Hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of today’s task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow’s. While we are postponing, life speeds by.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Happiness

“The human condition is a good one in that no one is unhappy except by his own fault.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Endurance

“More generally , says Seneca , if we coddle ourselves , if we allow ourselves to be corrupted by pleasure , nothing will seem bearable to us , and the reason things will seem unbearable is not because they are hard but because we are soft .”

(From “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” by William Irvine.)

Seneca on Healing

“Only time can heal what reason cannot.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Dominion

“It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Trials

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Moderation

“Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.”

~ Seneca

Seneca on Friends

“Associate with people who are likely to improve you.”

~ Seneca