Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.
Seneca The YoungerRead
For men in a state of freedom had thatch for their shelter, while slavery dwells beneath marble and gold.
Interpretation
True freedom is found in simplicity, while material wealth does not guarantee freedom.
In this quote, Seneca the Younger highlights the contrast between the superficial comforts of material wealth and the deeper value of freedom. He suggests that true liberty can be found in humble living, while a life of luxury under conditions of servitude is a life devoid of real autonomy. This reflects the Stoic philosophy that emphasizes virtue and wisdom over material possessions.
In practice
In a speech about the value of simplicity, one might say, 'As Seneca the Younger reminds us, true freedom is found in simplicity, while luxury may bind us.'
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.
O Heaven, it is mysterious, it is awful to consider that we not only carry each a future Ghost within him; but are, in very deed, Ghosts!
The ideally non-violent state will be an ordered anarchy.
Wars will remain while human nature remains. I believe in my soul in cooperation, in arbitration; but the soldier's occupation we cannot say is gone until human nature is gone.
We love force and we care very little how it is exhibited.
You are not going to destroy this imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy by creating your own version of it.
It was childish to feel disappointed, but childishness comes almost as naturally to a man as to a child.
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