Seneca quotes page 1

ca. 1 BC - 65 AD, Roman Stoic philosopher

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

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

Know this, that he that is a friend of himself is a friend to all men.
Seneca

No man was ever wise by chance.
Seneca

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

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

Courage leads to heaven; fear leads to death.
Seneca

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Seneca

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

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

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

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.
Seneca

Not he who has little, but he whose wishes more, is poor.
Seneca

What is harder than rock? What is softer than water? Yet hard rocks are hollowed out by soft
water.
Seneca

Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.
Seneca

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

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.
Seneca

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

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

Leisure without literature is death and burial alive.
Seneca

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

No one can be despised by another until he has learned to despise himself.
Seneca

Time discovered truth.
Seneca

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

He is a king who fears nothing, he is a king who desires nothing.
Seneca

Authority founded on injustice is never of long duration.
Seneca

Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.
Seneca

It is quality rather than quantity that matters.
Seneca

What were once vices are the fashion of the day.
Seneca

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

Laws do not persuade because they threaten.
Seneca

The courts of kings are full of people, but empty of friends.
Seneca

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

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