Lucius Annaeus Seneca Quotes & Sayings

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

So live with men as if God saw you and speak to God, as if men heard you. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

No untroubled day has ever dawned for me. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Life is warfare. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Whatever fortune has raised to a height, she has raised only to cast it down. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

There is no delight in owning anything unshared. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Those who boast of their descent, brag on what they owe to others. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

All art is but imitation of nature. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The wish for healing has always been half of health. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

That which is given with pride and ostentation is rather an ambition than a bounty. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Do everything as in the eye of another. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

I don't trust liberals, I trust conservatives. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

For greed all nature is too little. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

If you judge, investigate. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

One must steer, not talk. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

If you would judge, understand. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

If you wished to be loved, love. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Modesty forbids what the law does not. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

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

The heart is great which shows moderation in the midst of prosperity. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The approach of liberty makes even an old man brave. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

He who has great power should use it lightly. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Light troubles speak; the weighty are struck dumb. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

What is true belongs to me! — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Slavery takes hold of few, but many take hold of slavery. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

You must live for another if you wish to live for yourself. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

No one is laughable who laughs at himself. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

The first and greatest punishment of the sinner is the conscience of sin. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

He who dreads hostility too much is unfit to rule. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Success consecrates the most offensive crimes. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A man's as miserable as he thinks he is. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

See how many are better off than you are, but consider how many are worse. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

That is never too often repeated, which is never sufficiently learned. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Do not ask for what you will wish you had not got. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Where fear is, happiness is not. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Love in its essence is spiritual fire. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

He has committed the crime who profits by it. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

A great fortune is a great slavery. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

You learn to know a pilot in a storm. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Great grief does not of itself put an end to itself. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

It is the failing of youth not to be able to restrain its own violence. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

True praise comes often even to the lowly; false praise only to the strong. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Time discovers truth. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

In war there is no prize for runner-up. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Whatever is well said by another, is mine. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

One crime has to be concealed by another. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Believe me, that was a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of builders. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Nothing is void of God, his work is everywhere his full of himself. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

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? — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Every reign must submit to a greater reign. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

To keep oneself safe does not mean to bury oneself. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

He that does good to another does good also to himself. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca