Seneca the Younger - Life Quotes

8 Sourced Quotes

View all Seneca the Younger Quotes
Deeds that would be punished by loss of life when committed in secret, are praised by us because uniformed generals have carried them out. Man, naturally the gentlest class of being, is not ashamed to revel in the blood of others, to wage war, and to entrust the waging of war to his sons, when even dumb beasts and wild beasts keep the peace with one another. Against this overmastering and widespread madness philosophy has become a matter of greater effort, and has taken on strength in proportion to the strength which is gained by the opposition forces.

Seneca the Younger
Life is like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.

Seneca the Younger
Just as we suffer from excess in all things, so we suffer from excess in literature; thus we learn our lessons, not for life, but for the lecture room.

Seneca the Younger
If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living.

Seneca the Younger
Anyone can stop a man's life, but no one his death; a thousand doors open on to it.

Seneca the Younger
Mercy often means giving death, not life.

Seneca the Younger
Eternal law has arranged nothing better than this, that it has given us one way in to life, but many ways out.

Seneca the Younger
No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it.

Seneca the Younger