Seneca the Younger
4 BC–65 AD. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
14 genuine quotes, each found in the text, and 2 wrongly credited to Seneca.
Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman and dramatist (c. 4 BC–AD 65), born at Corduba in Spain, who was exiled to Corsica under Claudius, became tutor and then adviser to the young Nero, and was ordered to take his own life after the Pisonian conspiracy of 65. His moral essays and the Letters to Lucilius teach Stoic ethics in a pointed, epigrammatic style; many of the early letters close with a saying of Epicurus that Seneca quotes and comments on, and the lines of his tragedies belong to their characters. Many sayings credited to him online are loose modern paraphrases of his prose, or not his at all.
Genuine Seneca quotes
- one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to live, and, which may perhaps surprise you more, one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to die.
On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 7, section 3 (De Brevitate Vitae 7.3).
- Nothing, therefore, is more important than that we should not, like sheep, follow the flock that has gone before us, and thus proceed not whither we ought, but whither the rest are going.
On the Happy Life (58), Chapter 1, section 3 (De Vita Beata 1.3).
- Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men.
On Providence (64), Chapter 5, section 9 (De Providentia 5.9).
- men covetously guard their property from waste, but when it comes to waste of time, they are most prodigal of that of which it would become them to be sparing.
On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 3, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 3.1).
- He who fears death will never act as becomes a living man.
On Tranquillity of Mind (60), Chapter 11, section 6 (De Tranquillitate Animi 11.6).
- We do not have a very short time assigned to us, but we lose a great deal of it
On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 1, section 3 (De Brevitate Vitae 1.3).
- Men’s minds ought to have relaxation: they rise up better and more vigorous after rest.
On Tranquillity of Mind (60), Chapter 17, section 5 (De Tranquillitate Animi 17.5).
- or, if we trust Aristotle, no great genius has ever been without a touch of insanity.
On Tranquillity of Mind (60), Chapter 17, section 10 (De Tranquillitate Animi 17.10).
- It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it.
On Providence (64), Chapter 2, section 4 (De Providentia 2.4).
- The only persons who are really at leisure are those who devote themselves to philosophy: and they alone really live: for they do not merely enjoy their own lifetime, but they annex every century to their own: all the years which have passed before them belong to them.
On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 14, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 14.1).
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- Riches are slaves in the house of a wise man, but masters in that of a fool.
On the Happy Life (58), Chapter 26, section 1 (De Vita Beata 26.1).
- there is no such obstacle to true living as waiting, which loses today while it is depending on the morrow.
On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 9, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 9.1).
- We are troubled more often by opinion than by fact.
Moral Letters to Lucilius (64), letter XIII (‘On Groundless Fears’), section 4 (Ep. 13.4).
- While it is put off, life runs past.
Moral Letters to Lucilius (64), letter I (‘On Saving Time’), sections 2–3 (Ep. 1.3).
Quotes wrongly credited to Seneca
- Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Not found. It is not in Seneca’s works, and who first wrote it is not known.
- Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
Misattributed. Edward Gibbon wrote it, not Seneca.
The works we hold
Quotes are looked up word for word in these texts. The number is how many genuine quotes here come from each.
| Work | Year | Genuine quotes |
|---|---|---|
| Moral Letters to Lucilius Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium | 64 | 2 |
| On the Shortness of Life De Brevitate Vitae | 49 | 5 |
| On Tranquillity of Mind De Tranquillitate Animi | 60 | 3 |
| On Providence De Providentia | 64 | 2 |
| On the Happy Life De Vita Beata | 58 | 2 |