Seneca

Our list of Seneca Quotes

It does not matter how many books you have but how good the books are.
(2 minutes read)

arrow down

The Seneca's quote says that it is unnecessary to have many books, but it is enough to have only quality ones.

We determine the quality of a book by what we can gain from it, that is, all the valuable information to ourselves.

It is best to surround ourselves with valuable items that enrich our thinking and improve our lives.

To understand whether an individual or an object is valuable, we have to see if, at first glance, that element conveyed uniqueness and curiosity to us. After that, we have to confront that element to understand its actual value and decide whether it is useful.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

Work in Progress...

The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.

Work in Progress...

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.

Work in Progress...

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.

Work in Progress...

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Work in Progress...

True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.

Work in Progress...

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

Work in Progress...

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.

Work in Progress...

A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary.

Work in Progress...

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

Work in Progress...

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.

Work in Progress...

It's not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It's because we dare not venture that they are difficult.

Work in Progress...

He who is brave is free.

Work in Progress...

It is quality rather than quantity that matters.

Work in Progress...

Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.

Work in Progress...

As long as you live, keep learning how to live.

Work in Progress...

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.

Work in Progress...

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

Work in Progress...

Love in its essence is spiritual fire.

Work in Progress...

Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.

Work in Progress...

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

Work in Progress...

While we are postponing, life speeds by.

Work in Progress...

All cruelty springs from weakness.

Work in Progress...

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

Work in Progress...

Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.

Work in Progress...

Life, if well lived, is long enough.

Work in Progress...

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.

Work in Progress...

The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.

Work in Progress...

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

Work in Progress...

All art is but imitation of nature.

Work in Progress...

Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all.

Work in Progress...

For greed all nature is too little.

Work in Progress...

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

Work in Progress...

A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.

Work in Progress...

Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.

Work in Progress...

A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.

Work in Progress...

Everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends.

Work in Progress...

He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.

Work in Progress...

Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.

Work in Progress...

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

Work in Progress...

Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wind and the rain and the thunder in the sky. Life is matter and is earth, what is and what is not, and what beyond is in Eternity.

Work in Progress...

If you wished to be loved, love.

Work in Progress...

Every guilty person is his own hangman.

Work in Progress...

If a man knows not what harbor he seeks, any wind is the right wind.

Work in Progress...

A great fortune is a great slavery.

Work in Progress...

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

Work in Progress...

The wish for healing has always been half of health.

Work in Progress...

Success is not greedy, as people think, but insignificant. That is why it satisfies nobody.

Work in Progress...

He who has great power should use it lightly.

Work in Progress...

Even after a bad harvest there must be sowing.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

No man was ever wise by chance.

Work in Progress...

The things hardest to bear are sweetest to remember.

Work in Progress...

When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

Time discovers truth.

Work in Progress...

Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands.

Work in Progress...

I don't trust liberals, I trust conservatives.

Work in Progress...

No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.

Work in Progress...

Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them.

Work in Progress...

You learn to know a pilot in a storm.

Work in Progress...

Nothing is so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness is it to be expecting evil before it comes.

Work in Progress...

There is no person so severely punished, as those who subject themselves to the whip of their own remorse.

Work in Progress...

A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature.

Work in Progress...

I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good.

Work in Progress...

The way is long if one follows precepts, but short... if one follows patterns.

Work in Progress...

So live with men as if God saw you and speak to God, as if men heard you.

Work in Progress...

The good things of prosperity are to be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.

Work in Progress...

A physician is not angry at the intemperance of a mad patient, nor does he take it ill to be railed at by a man in fever. Just so should a wise man treat all mankind, as a physician does his patient, and look upon them only as sick and extravagant.

Work in Progress...

Where fear is, happiness is not.

Work in Progress...

The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable.

Work in Progress...

If you judge, investigate.

Work in Progress...

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man... It is more powerful than external circumstances.

Work in Progress...

He who has made a fair compact with poverty is rich.

Work in Progress...

Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.

Work in Progress...

You must live for another if you wish to live for yourself.

Work in Progress...

There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

Anger is like those ruins which smash themselves on what they fall.

Work in Progress...

Shame may restrain what law does not prohibit.

Work in Progress...

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.

Work in Progress...

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk.

Work in Progress...

Life is warfare.

Work in Progress...

Whenever the speech is corrupted so is the mind.

Work in Progress...

Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in Nature. Everything is organic and living, and therefore the whole world appears to be a living organism.

Work in Progress...

A person's fears are lighter when the danger is at hand.

Work in Progress...

In war there is no prize for runner-up.

Work in Progress...

If thou art a man, admire those who attempt great things, even though they fail.

Work in Progress...

A punishment to some, to some a gift, and to many a favor.

Work in Progress...

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

Work in Progress...

The deferring of anger is the best antidote to anger.

Work in Progress...

There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage.

Work in Progress...

Ignorant people see life as either existence or non-existence, but wise men see it beyond both existence and non-existence to something that transcends them both; this is an observation of the Middle Way.

Work in Progress...

The heart is great which shows moderation in the midst of prosperity.

Work in Progress...

A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners.

Work in Progress...

Those who boast of their descent, brag on what they owe to others.

Work in Progress...

For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.

Work in Progress...

We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered today? what passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.

Work in Progress...

It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and to prefer things in measure to things in excess.

Work in Progress...

What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more.

Work in Progress...

Whatever fortune has raised to a height, she has raised only to cast it down.

Work in Progress...

That which is given with pride and ostentation is rather an ambition than a bounty.

Work in Progress...

There is no delight in owning anything unshared.

Work in Progress...

No evil propensity of the human heart is so powerful that it may not be subdued by discipline.

Work in Progress...

It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing.

Work in Progress...

A man's as miserable as he thinks he is.

Work in Progress...

Genius always gives its best at first; prudence, at last.

Work in Progress...

I never come back home with the same moral character I went out with; something or other becomes unsettled where I had achieved internal peace; some one or other of the things I had put to flight reappears on the scene.

Work in Progress...

Behold a worthy sight, to which the God, turning his attention to his own work, may direct his gaze. Behold an equal thing, worthy of a God, a brave man matched in conflict with evil fortune.

Work in Progress...

He has committed the crime who profits by it.

Work in Progress...

There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.

Work in Progress...

Whatever is well said by another, is mine.

Work in Progress...

What nature requires is obtainable, and within easy reach. It is for the superfluous we sweat.

Work in Progress...

A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.

Work in Progress...

Poverty wants some, luxury many, and avarice all things.

Work in Progress...

Great grief does not of itself put an end to itself.

Work in Progress...

Modesty forbids what the law does not.

Work in Progress...

Do everything as in the eye of another.

Work in Progress...

Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough.

Work in Progress...

If you would judge, understand.

Work in Progress...

It is the failing of youth not to be able to restrain its own violence.

Work in Progress...

We can be thankful to a friend for a few acres, or a little money; and yet for the freedom and command of the whole earth, and for the great benefits of our being, our life, health, and reason, we look upon ourselves as under no obligation.

Work in Progress...

It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.

Work in Progress...

We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods.

Work in Progress...

That is never too often repeated, which is never sufficiently learned.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

I will govern my life and thoughts as if the whole world were to see the one and read the other, for what does it signify to make anything a secret to my neighbor, when to God, who is the searcher of our hearts, all our privacies are open?

Work in Progress...

Do not ask for what you will wish you had not got.

Work in Progress...

One must steer, not talk.

Work in Progress...

God is the universal substance in existing things. He comprises all things. He is the fountain of all being. In Him exists everything that is.

Work in Progress...

Wisdom allows nothing to be good that will not be so forever; no man to be happy but he that needs no other happiness than what he has within himself; no man to be great or powerful that is not master of himself.

Work in Progress...

The approach of liberty makes even an old man brave.

Work in Progress...

Every sin is the result of a collaboration.

Work in Progress...

He who dreads hostility too much is unfit to rule.

Work in Progress...

A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty.

Work in Progress...

Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue.

Work in Progress...

Every reign must submit to a greater reign.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

In war, when a commander becomes so bereft of reason and perspective that he fails to understand the dependence of arms on Divine guidance, he no longer deserves victory.

Work in Progress...

He that does good to another does good also to himself.

Work in Progress...

Slavery takes hold of few, but many take hold of slavery.

Work in Progress...

Light troubles speak; the weighty are struck dumb.

Work in Progress...

Call it Nature, Fate, Fortune; all these are names of the one and selfsame God.

Work in Progress...

May be is very well, but Must is the master. It is my duty to show justice without recompense.

Work in Progress...

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party; there is no battle unless there be two.

Work in Progress...

To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.

Work in Progress...

We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.

Work in Progress...

To keep oneself safe does not mean to bury oneself.

Work in Progress...

See how many are better off than you are, but consider how many are worse.

Work in Progress...

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

Consider, when you are enraged at any one, what you would probably think if he should die during the dispute.

Work in Progress...

Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment.

Work in Progress...

The display of grief makes more demands than grief itself. How few men are sad in their own company.

Work in Progress...

The mind unlearns with difficulty what it has long learned.

Work in Progress...

What is true belongs to me!

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin.

Work in Progress...

There is a noble manner of being poor, and who does not know it will never be rich.

Work in Progress...

Night brings our troubles to the light, rather than banishes them.

Work in Progress...

True praise comes often even to the lowly; false praise only to the strong.

Work in Progress...

Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may then be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment.

Work in Progress...

The first and greatest punishment of the sinner is the conscience of sin.

Work in Progress...

No man enjoys the true taste of life, but he who is ready and willing to quit it.

Work in Progress...

Believe me, that was a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of builders.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

No one is laughable who laughs at himself.

Work in Progress...

Crime when it succeeds is called virtue.

Work in Progress...

Why do I not seek some real good; one which I could feel, not one which I could display?

Work in Progress...

Whatever one of us blames in another, each one will find in his own heart.

Work in Progress...

No untroubled day has ever dawned for me.

Work in Progress...

Success consecrates the most offensive crimes.

Work in Progress...

Nothing becomes so offensive so quickly as grief. When fresh it finds someone to console it, but when it becomes chronic, it is ridiculed, and rightly.

Work in Progress...

It makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin.

Work in Progress...

When we are well, we all have good advice for those who are ill.

Work in Progress...

A great mind becomes a great fortune.

Work in Progress...

One crime has to be concealed by another.

Work in Progress...

Nothing is void of God, his work is everywhere his full of himself.

Work in Progress...

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.

Work in Progress...

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Work in Progress...

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 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.

Work in Progress...

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

Work in Progress...

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

Work in Progress...

If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.

Work in Progress...

It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.

Work in Progress...

The time will come when diligent research over long periods will bring to light things which now lie hidden. A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject... And so this knowledge will be unfolded only through long successive ages. There will come a time when our descendants will be amazed that we did not know things that are so plain to them... Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come, when memory of us will have been effaced.

Work in Progress...

It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. ... The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully.

Work in Progress...

Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.

Work in Progress...

If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.

Work in Progress...

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

Work in Progress...

What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.

Work in Progress...

They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.

Work in Progress...

If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according what others think, you will never be rich.

Work in Progress...
Buy Me A Coffee

© 2022, Matteo Drelli

Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy