Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.
Seneca The YoungerRead
To strive with an equal is dangerous; with a superior, mad; with an inferior, degrading.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Striving against those of equal, inferior, or superior status has its own risks and consequences.
This quote from Seneca the Younger reflects on the dangers and pitfalls of engaging in competition or conflict with others based on their perceived social or intellectual status. Striving against an equal can lead to instability, fighting against a superior can drive one to madness, while attempting to dominate an inferior can be degrading to one's character. Through this perspective, Seneca emphasizes the importance of understanding the nature of our relationships and interactions with others in the pursuit of personal virtue and wisdom.
Themes
StriveEqualSuperiorInferiorDanger
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a motivational speech to warn against unnecessary competition.
More from Seneca The Younger
All quotes βNo 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.
Seneca The YoungerRead
Slavery takes hold of few, but many take hold of slavery.
Seneca The YoungerRead
To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.
Seneca The YoungerRead
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.
Seneca The YoungerRead
Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart.
Seneca The YoungerRead
Similar quotes
No single, individual moment is in and of itself unendurable.
David Foster WallaceRead
I don't tell people, 'You're okay the way that you are.' That's not the right story. The right story is, 'You're way less than you could be.'
Jordan PetersonRead
The curious are always in some danger. If you are curious you might never come home.
Jeanette WintersonRead
Sometimes it seems especially difficult to submit to "great tribulation" when we look around and see others seemingly much less obedient who triumph even as we weep. But time is measured only unto man, says Alma (see Alma 40:8), and God has a very good memory.
Jeffrey R. HollandRead
I get people to truly accept themselves unconditionally, whether or not their therapist or anyone loves them.
Albert EllisRead
One swallow alone does not make a summer.
Miguel De CervantesRead