Seneca's Letters from a Stoic

by Seneca

That his social connexions were distinguished we infer from the prominence and refinement of his brother Gallio, – the Gallio of the New Testament,

you will find that the largest portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the purpose.

For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. Whatever years be behind us are in death's hands.

Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow's.

While we are postponing, life speeds by.

Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time. We were entrusted by nature with the ownership of this single thing, so fleeting and slippery that anyone who will can oust us from possession. What fools these mortals be! They allow the cheapest and most useless things, which can easily be replaced, to be charged in the reckoning, after they have acquired them; but they never regard themselves as in debt when they have received some...

I do not regard a man as poor, if the little which remains is enough for him.

You do not run hither and thither and distract yourself by changing your abode; for such restlessness is the sign of a disordered spirit.

The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.

You must linger among a limited number of master thinkers, and digest their works, if you would derive ideas which shall win firm hold in your mind.

And in reading of many books is distraction.

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So you should always read standard authors; and when you crave a change, fall back upon those whom you read before.

"Contented poverty is an honourable estate." Indeed, if it be contented, it is not poverty at all. It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

Do you ask what is the proper limit to wealth? It is, first, to have what is necessary, and, second, to have what is enough.

But if you consider any man a friend whom you do not trust as you trust yourself, you are mightily mistaken and you do not sufficiently understand what true friendship means.

Ponder for a long time whether you shall admit a given person to your friendship; but when you have decided to admit him, welcome him with all your heart and soul. Speak as boldly with him as with yourself.

is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.

No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it, or believes that living through many consulships is a great blessing.

Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardships of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die.

For this reason, make life as a whole agreeable to yourself by banishing all worry about it. No good thing renders its possessor happy, unless his mind is reconciled to the possibility of loss; nothing, however, is lost with less discomfort than that which, when lost, cannot be missed.

That which is enough is ready to our hands. He who has made a fair compact with poverty is rich.

commend you and rejoice in the fact that you are persistent in your studies, and that, putting all else aside, you make it each day your endeavour to become a better man.

I warn you, however, not to act after the fashion of those who desire to be conspicuous rather than to improve, by doing things which will rouse comment as regards your dress or general way of living.

Repellent attire, unkempt hair, slovenly beard, open scorn of silver dishes, a couch on the bare earth, and any other perverted form...

Inwardly, we ought to be different in all respects, but our exterior should conform to society.

Let us try to maintain a higher standard of life than that of the multitude, but not a contrary standard;

The first thing which philosophy undertakes to give is fellow-feeling with all men; in other words, sympathy and sociability.

Our motto, as you know, is "Live according to Nature";

let men find that we are unlike the common herd, if they look closely. If they visit us at home, they should admire us,

the limiting of desires helps also to cure fears:

fear follows hope.

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

You must go to the scene of action, first, because men put more faith in their eyes than in their ears, and second, because the way is long if one follows precepts, but short and helpful, if one follows patterns.

"What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself." That was indeed a great benefit; such a person can never be alone. You may be sure that such a man is a friend to all mankind. Farewell.

Do you ask me what you should regard as especially to be avoided? I say, crowds; for as yet you cannot trust yourself to them with safety.

Associate with those who will make a better man of you. Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is mutual; for men learn while they teach.

"For what purpose did I learn all these things?" But you need not fear that you have wasted your efforts; it was for yourself that you learned them.

"One man means as much to me as a multitude, and a multitude only as much as one man."

they asked him what was the object of all this study applied to an art that would reach but very few. He replied: "I am content with few, content with one, content with none at all."

"I write this not for the many, but for you; each of us is enough of an audience for the other."

Your good qualities should face inwards.

"Avoid whatever pleases the throng: avoid the gifts of Chance! Halt

"Hold fast, then, to this sound and wholesome rule of life – that you indulge the body only so far as is needful for good health. The body should be treated more rigorously, that it may not be disobedient to the mind. Eat merely to relieve your hunger; drink merely to quench your thirst; dress merely to keep out the cold; house yourself merely as a protection against personal discomfort. It matters little whether the house be built of turf, or of variously coloured imported marble; understand that a man is sheltered just as well by a thatch as by a roof of gold. Despise everything that useless toil creates as an ornament and an object of beauty. And reflect that nothing except the soul is worthy of wonder; for to the soul, if it be great, naught is great."

"If you would enjoy real freedom, you must be the slave of Philosophy."

For the very service of Philosophy is freedom.

What Chance has made yours is not really yours.

The good that could be given, can be removed.

"a soul that cannot be harmed," or "a soul entirely beyond the realm of suffering."

he endures the loss of a friend with equanimity.

incantation: 'If you would be loved, love.'"