Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.
Seneca The YoungerRead
We are members of one great body. Nature planted in us a mutual love, and fitted us for a social life. We must consider that we were born for the good of the whole.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the interconnectedness of all people and the importance of community and collective well-being.
Seneca the Younger highlights the idea that humans are inherently social beings, united by a shared responsibility towards each other and the greater good. He suggests that our existence is intertwined, and we should cultivate a mutual love that fosters a supportive community, advocating for the well-being of all as a fundamental principle of life.
In practice
In a speech about community service, one might say, 'As Seneca the Younger wisely noted, we are members of one great body, emphasizing our duty to support one another.'
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.
When a person becomes a legend, the very thing that makes them human and knowable is killed off, so it's like being killed over and over and over again, for all eternity.
There is a big difference between an honest mistake made in a moment of spiritual weakness and a willfull decision to disobey persistently the commandments of God. Those who deliberately choose to violate God's commandments or ignore the standards of the Church, even when promising themselves and others that someday they will be strong enough to repent, are stepping into a dangerously slippery slope upon which many have lost their spiritual footing.
Because there is no man who can be true and just judge of himself, so much will self-love deceive him.
Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.
The other animals humans eat, use in science, hunt, trap, and exploit in a variety of ways, have a life of their own that is of importance to them apart from their utility to us. They are not only in the world, they are aware of it. What happens to them matters to them. Each has a life that fares better or worse for the one whose life it is.
because it seemed too simple to accept that life was an act of faith.
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