Lucius Annaeus Seneca, (4 B.C.-A.D. 65) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, "Seneca the Younger" Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [31-60] of 117 Lucius Annaeus Seneca quotesLucius Annaeus Seneca QuotesLucius Annaeus Seneca Previous 30 quotes Next 30 quotes 'Tis the first art of kings, the power to suffer hate.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca A good judge condemns wrongful acts, but does not hate them.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca A great fortune is a great slavery.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca A great pilot can sail even when his canvas is rent.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party; there is no battle unless there be two.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca A trifling debt makes a man your debtor; a large one makes him an enemy.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca All art is but imitation of nature.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca All savageness is a sign of weakness.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Although," said he [Cato], "all the world has fallen under one man's sway, although Caesar's legions guard the land, his fleets the sea, and Caesar's troops beset the city gates, yet Cato has a way of escape; with one single hand he will open a wide path to freedom. This sword, unstained and blameless even in civil war, shall at last do good and noble service: the freedom which it could not give to his country it shall give to Cato!~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca And yet life, Lucilius, is really a battle.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Before I became old I tried to live well; now that I am old, I shall try to die well; but dying well means dying gladly.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca But how much more highly do I think of these men! They can do these things, but decline to do them. To whom that ever tried have these tasks proved false? To what man did they not seem easier in the doing? Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty. The difficulty comes from our lack of confidence.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Death is a release from and an end of all pains: beyond it our sufferings cannot extend: it restores us to the peaceful rest in which we lay before we were born. If anyone pities the dead, he ought also to pity those who have not been born. Death is neither a good nor a bad thing, for that alone which is something can be a good or a bad thing: but that which is nothing, and reduces all things to nothing, does not hand us over to either fortune, because good and bad require some material to work upon. Fortune cannot take ahold of that which Nature has let go, nor can a man be unhappy if he is nothing.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Don't ask for what you'll wish you hadn't got.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca For love of bustle is not industry – it is only the restlessness of a hunted mind.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca For no man is free who is a slave to his body.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca For sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. Whatever years be behind us are in death's hands.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Friendship is always helpful, but love sometimes even does harm~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca He who receives a benefit with gratitude, repays the first installment of it.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca He who, when he may, forbids not sin, commands it.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca I do not trust my eyes to tell me what a man is: I have a better and more trustworthy light by which I can distinguish what is true from what is false: let the mind find out what is good for the mind.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca If any one is angry with you, meet his anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two men to fight.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca If you are wise, mingle these two elements: do not hope without despair, or despair without hope.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Impurity is caused by attitude, not events.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Previous 30 quotes Next 30 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print