Seneca
Seneca
actions firmness itself life mastery mind precept teaches wisdom words
Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life -- in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color.
actions firmness itself life mastery mind precept teaches wisdom words
Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life - in a firmness of mind and mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as talk; and to make our actions and words all of a color.
human kindness opportunity wherever
Wherever there is a human being there is an opportunity for kindness
despair hope
Who can hope for nothing, should despair for nothing.
amuse anxious blessings content dependence either enjoy fears great happiness hopes mankind ourselves rest satisfied true wants whatever wise wishing within
True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The great 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.
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.
change fault riches
The acquisition of riches has been to many not an end to their miseries, but a change in them: The fault is not in the riches, but the disposition.
articulate mere noise voice
The articulate voice is more distracting than mere noise
example learning precept road short
The road to learning by precept is long, but by example short and effective.
afraid cease hope
You cease to be afraid when you cease to hope; for hope is accompanied by fear.
certainty delay depend depends forward greatest loss relinquish time time-and-time-management
The greatest loss of time is delay and expectation, which depend upon the future. We let go the present, which we have in our power, and look forward to that which depends upon chance, and so relinquish a certainty for an uncertainty.
bring cease death exist final hour itself merely reach time
The final hour when we cease to exist does not itself bring death; it merely of itself completes the death-process. We reach death at that moment, but we have been a long time on the way.
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.
nature requires
What nature requires is obtainable, and within easy reach. It is for the superfluous we sweat.