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

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Shame may restrain what law does not prohibit. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

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

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

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

I don't trust liberals, I trust conservatives. — 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

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

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

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

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

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Even after a bad harvest there must be sowing. — 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

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The deferring of anger is the best antidote to anger. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Whatever one of us blames in another, each one will find in his own heart. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The things hardest to bear are sweetest to remember. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Time discovers truth. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Whenever the speech is corrupted so is the mind. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

He who has great power should use it lightly. — 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

If you would judge, understand. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

If you wished to be loved, love. — 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

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

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

The mind unlearns with difficulty what it has long learned. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment. — 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

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

To keep oneself safe does not mean to bury oneself. — 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

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

One must steer, not talk. — 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

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. — 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

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

We learn not in the school, but in life. — Seneca.

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

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

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. — 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

Where fear is, happiness is not. — 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

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

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

Letter from Philippus of Athens to Lucius Annaeus Seneca: Yet the Empire of Rome that [Octavius] created has endured the harshness of a Tiberius, the monstrous cruelty of a Caligula, and the ineptness of a Claudius. And now our new Emperor is one whom you tutored as a boy, and to whom you remain close in his new authority; let us be thankful for the fact that he will rule in the light of your wisdom and virtue, and let us pray to the gods that, under Nero, Rome will at last fulfill the dream of Octavius Caesar. — John Edward Williams

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

Life, if well lived, is long enough. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. -Lucius Annaeus Seneca — 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

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

Doubt not without hoping, hope not without doubting (free after Seneca) — Marcus Annaeus Seneca

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

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

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

The way is long if one follows precepts, but short ... if one follows patterns. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Every guilty person is his own hangman. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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