Seneca The Younger

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

No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley.

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

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

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

Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart.

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.

Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come . . . . Our universe is a sorry little affair unless it has in it something for every age to investigate.

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

It is safer to offend certain men than it is to oblige them; for as proof that they owe nothing they seek recourse in hatred.

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.

Greed's worst point is its ingratitude.

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

The part of life which we really live is short.

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

A consciousness of wrongdoing is the first step to salvation...you have to catch yourself doing it before you can correct it.

Life is short and art is long.

When you die, it will not be because you are sick, but because you were alive.

Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness.

Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. -Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium

Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment.