Famous Quotes

Quotes by Seneca

• It is another's fault if he be ungrateful, but it is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man, I will oblige a great many that are not so.
• It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and to prefer things in measure to things in excess.
• It is the superfluous things for which men sweat, - superfluous things that wear our togas theadbare, that force us to grow old in camp, that dash us upon foreign shores.
• It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.
• It makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin.
• Just as I shall select my ship when I am about to go on a voyage, or my house when I propose to take a residence, so I shall choose my death when I am about to depart from life.
• Love in its essence is spiritual fire.
• Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.
• No man was ever wise by chance.
• No one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied to.
• Nothing is void of God, his work is everywhere his full of himself.
• One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.
• Precepts or maxims are of great weight and a few useful ones on hand do more to produce a happy life than the volumes we can't find.
• Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
• 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.
• Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely for science is but one.
• So live with men as if God saw you and speak to God, as if men heard you.
• Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.
• Success consecrates the most offensive crimes.
• Success is not greedy, as people think, but insignificant. That is why it satisfies nobody.
• The bad fortune of the good turns their faces up to heaven the good fortune of the bad bows their heads down to the earth.
• The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.
• The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.
• The deferring of anger is the best antidote to anger.
• The display of grief makes more demands than grief itself. How few men are sad in their own company.
• The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin.
• The good things of prosperity are to be wished but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.
• The greatest remedy for anger is delay.
• The heart is great which shows moderation in the midst of prosperity.
• The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.
• The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable.
• The wish for healing has always been half of health.
• There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.
• There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
• There is none made so great, but he may both need the help and service, and stand in fear of the power and unkindness, even of the meanest of mortals.
• There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage.
• Time discovers truth.
• To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.