Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
c. 4 BCE-65 CE • Roman
Stoicism
Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and playwright. His letters to Lucilius offer practical wisdom for living well.
Key Works
- Letters from a Stoic
- On the Shortness of Life
- Essays
112
quotes in library
Quotes by Seneca
112 quotes“Choose the more reasonable course in everything.”
discernmentLetters 7
“He who is brave is free.”
freedomLetters 31
“It is impossible for any man to be happy if he is troubled by what would have been.”
acceptanceLetters 78
“Real joy is a stern matter — it is born of the soul.”
joyLetters 23
“As a fish belongs to the water and a bird to the sky, so a wise man belongs to all places.”
belongingLetters 28
“You should travel — but you must take yourself wherever you go.”
selfLetters 28
“That you may go beyond yourself, you must travel inward.”
interiorityLetters 28
“Wherever you go, your faults follow you.”
self-knowledgeLetters 28
“It is the soul that needs healing, not the place.”
healingLetters 28
“He who has begun has half done.”
actionLetters 71
“Have the courage to be wise: begin.”
courageLetters 71
“There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.”
effortHercules Furens 437
“Whatever can happen at any time can happen today.”
impermanenceLetters 24
“To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden.”
equanimityHercules Oetaeus 230
“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”
courageLetters 78
“Pestilence has slain its thousands; the soul slays its tens of thousands.”
interiorityLetters 95
“Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember.”
memoryOn Tranquility of Mind 11
“He who is everywhere a stranger is at home nowhere.”
belongingLetters 2
“For freedom is in being able to live as one wishes; and the wise man wishes only what is right.”
freedomLetters 37
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