Seneca quotes, with sources

Roman Stoic philosopher, playwright, and statesman; tutor to Emperor Nero. Here are 32 short quotes by Seneca (c. 4 BC–65 AD), each with the work it comes from, drawn from 18 sources.

While we are postponing, life speeds by.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter I (tr. Richard M. Gummere, 1917)

Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter I (tr. Richard M. Gummere, 1917)

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter II (tr. Richard M. Gummere, 1917)

You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 28

Even bad fortune is fickle.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13

And so I commanded myself to live.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78

The present alone can make no man wretched.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 5

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 71

Be your own spectator; seek your own applause.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78

What Chance has made yours is not really yours.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 8

For sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78

A man is as wretched as he has convinced himself that he is.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78

The person you are matters more than the place to which you go.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 28

Aye, the willing soul Fate leads, but the unwilling drags along.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 107

No servitude is more disgraceful than that which is self-imposed.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 47

We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13

I am not born for any one corner of the universe; this whole world is my country.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 28

If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 18

It is indeed foolish to be unhappy now because you may be unhappy at some future time.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 24

Life is not a dainty business.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 107

Whatever is well said by anyone is mine.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 16

One may leap to heaven from the very slums.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 31

That which is enough is ready to our hands.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 4

Nothing except the soul is worthy of wonder.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 8

See to it that you never do anything unwillingly.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 61

That which you seek—to live well—is found everywhere.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 28

Philosophy calls for plain living, but not for penance.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 5

Nature’s wants are slight; the demands of opinion are boundless.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 16

No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 6

Time is the one loan which even a grateful recipient cannot repay.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 1

If pain can be conquered by a smile, will it not be conquered by reason?

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78

Let us think of everything that can happen as something which will happen.

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 24

Sources

Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 1
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 107
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 16
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 18
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 24
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 28
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 31
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 4
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 47
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 5
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 6
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 61
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 71
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 8
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter I (tr. Richard M. Gummere, 1917)
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter II (tr. Richard M. Gummere, 1917)

Themes

Stoicism Resilience Calm Purpose Growth Focus Hope Courage Wisdom Connection Change Spiritual Joy

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