SENECA

Certainly you should discuss everything with a friend; but before you do so, discuss in your mind the man himself.

After friendship is formed you must trust, but before that you must judge.

Let our aim be a way of life not diametrically opposed to, but better than that of the mob. Otherwise we shall repel and alienate the very people whose reform we desire; we shall make them, moreover, reluctant to imitate us in anything, for fear they may have to imitat...

The ending inevitably matches the beginning: a person who starts being friends with you because it pays him will similarly cease to be friends because it pays him to do so.

If there is anything in a particular friendship that attr...

You ask: what is the proper limit to a person’s wealth?

First, having what is essential, and second, having what is enough.

Philosophy calls for simple living, not for doing penance, and the simple way of life need not be a crude one […] One’s life should be a compromise between the ideal and the popular morality.

People should admire our way of life b...

You ask me to say what you should consider particularly important to avoid. My answer is this: a mass crowd […] When a mind is impressionable and has none too firm a hold on what is right, it must be rescued from the crowd: it is so easy for it to go over to the majori...

Epicurus said ‘We need to set our affections on some good man and keep him constantly before our eyes, so that we may live as if he were watching us and do everything as if he saw what we were doing’.

So choose someone whose way o...

Nothing […] is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.

The wise man, Chrysippus said, lacks nothing but needs a great number of things, whereas the fool, on the other hand, needs nothing (for he does not know how to use anything) but lacks everything.

The wise man needs hands and eye...

Cease to hope, and you will cease to fear […] Fear keeps pace with hope […] both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind in a state of anxiety through looking into the future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of adapting ourselves ...

One’s physical make-up and the attributes that were one’s lot at birth remain settled no matter how much or how long the personality may strive after perfect adjustment. One cannot ban these things any more than one can call them up.

[P]eople who never relax and people who are invariably in a relaxed state merit your disapproval - the former as much as the latter. For a delight in bustling about is not industry - it is only the restless energy of a hunted mind. And the state of mind that looks on a...

A single example of extravagance or greed does a lot of harm […] what then do you imagine the effect on a person’s character is when the assault comes from the world at large? You must inevitably either hate or imitate the world. But the right thing is to shun both cou...