“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”
On the Happy Life (ed. 2016)
“Suppose that you hold wealth to be a good: poverty will then distress you, and, – which is most pitiable, – it will be an imaginary poverty. For you may be rich, and nevertheless, because your neighbour is richer, you suppose yourself to be poor exactly by the same amount in which you fall short of your neighbour.”
Moral letters to Lucilius, 104-9
“There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
Moral letters to Lucilius, 13-4
“I may become a poor man; I shall then be one among many. I may be exiled; I shall then regard myself as born in the place to which I shall be sent. They may put me in chains. What then? Am I free from bonds now?Behold this clogging burden of a body, to which nature has fettered me! ‘I shall die,’ you say; you mean to say ‘I shall cease to run the risk of sickness; I shall cease to run the risk of imprisonment; I shall cease to run the risk of death.”
Moral letters to Lucilius, 24-17
“The greatest impediment to living is expectancy, which relies on tomorrow and wastes today. You map out what is in fortune’s hand but let slip what’s in your own hand. What are you aiming at? What’s your goal? All that’s to come lies in uncertainty: live right now.”
On the Shortness of Life, 9-1
“Death is neither a good nor a bad thing, for that alone which is something can be a good or a bad thing: but that which is nothing, and reduces all things to nothing, does not hand us over to either fortune because good and bad require some material to work upon. Fortune cannot take ahold of that which Nature has let go, nor can a man be unhappy if he is nothing.”
Ad Marciam De Consolatione (Of Consolation, To Marcia), cap. XIX, line 5
“I shall now show you how you may know that you are not wise. The wise man is joyful, happy and calm, unshaken; he lives on a plane with the gods. Now go, question yourself; if you are never downcast if your mind is not harassed by any apprehension, through anticipation of what is to come, if day and night your soul keeps on its even and unswerving course, upright and content with itself, then you have attained to the greatest good that mortals can possess. If, however, you seek pleasures of all kinds in all directions, you must know that you are as far short of wisdom as you are short of joy.”
Moral letters to Lucilius, 59-13
“Worse than war is the very fear of war.”
Thyestes, line 572 (Chorus).
“The cause of anger is the belief that we are injured; this belief, therefore, should not be lightly entertained. We ought not to fly into a rage even when the injury appears to be open and distinct: for some false things bear the semblance of truth. We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth.”
De Ira (On Anger): Book 2, cap. 22, line 2 – Moral Essays
“Our minds must have relaxation: rested, they will rise up better and keener. Just as we must not force fertile fields, for uninterrupted production will quickly exhaust them, so continual labor will break the power of our minds. They will recover their strength, however, after they have had a little freedom and relaxation.”
On Tranquility of the Mind, XVII
“Nothing lasts forever, few things even last for long: all are susceptible of decay in one way or another; moreover all that begins also ends.”
Ad Polybium De Consolatione (Of Consolation, To Polybius), chap. I
“The shortest way to wealth is through the contempt of wealth.”
Letter LXII – Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius)
“Thus, I remember that great orator Asinius Pollio would not attend to any business after the tenth hour: he would not even read letters after that time for fear some new trouble should arise, but in those two hours used to get rid of the weariness which he had contracted during the whole day. Some rest in the middle of the day, and reserve some light occupation for the afternoon. Our ancestors, too, forbade any new motion to be made in the Senate after the tenth hour. Soldiers divide their watches, and those who have just returned from active service are allowed to sleep the whole night undisturbed. We must humour our minds and grant them rest from time to time, which acts upon them like food, and restores their strength.”
On Tranquility of the Mind, XVII
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
Letter II: On discursiveness in reading, line 6. – Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius)
“Yet it is better to accept public morals and human vices calmly without bursting into either laughter or tears; for to be hurt by the sufferings of others is to be forever miserable, while to enjoy the sufferings of others is an inhuman pleasure just as it is a useless piece of humanity to weep and pull a long face because someone is burying his son.”
On Tranquility of the Mind, XV
“If you would put off all worry, assume that what you fear may happen will certainly happen in any event; whatever the trouble may be, measure it in your own mind, and estimate the amount of your fear. You will thus understand that what you fear is either insignificant or short-lived.”
Moral Letters, 24.2
“We should choose for our friends men who are, as far as possible, free from strong desires: for vices are contagious, and pass from a man to his neighbour, and injure those who touch them.”
On Tranquility of the Mind, VII
“I find in the writings of our Hecato that the limiting of desires helps also to cure fears: ‘Cease to hope,’ he says, ‘and you will cease to fear.’”
Moral Letters, 5.7
“Accordingly, weigh carefully your hopes as well as your fears, and whenever all the elements are in doubt, decide in your own favour; believe what you prefer. And if fear wins a majority of the votes, incline in the other direction anyhow, and cease to harass your soul, reflecting continually that most mortals, even when no troubles are actually at hand or are certainly to be expected in the future, become excited and disquieted.”
Moral Letters, 13.13
“I see what you are looking for; you are asking what I have packed into my letter, what inspiriting saying from some master-mind, what useful precept. So I shall send you something dealing with this very subject which has been under discussion. Epicurus upbraids those who crave, as much as those who shrink from, death: ‘It is absurd,’ he says, ‘to run towards death because you are tired of life, when it is your manner of life that has made you run towards death.’”
Moral Letters, 24.22
“Look back and recall when you were ever sure of your purpose; how few days turned out as you’d intended; when you were ever at your own disposal; when your face showed its own expression; when your mind was free from disturbance what accomplishment you can claim in such a long life; how many have plundered your existence without your being aware of what you were losing; how much time has been lost to groundless anguish, foolish pleasure, greedy desire, the charms of society how little is left to you from your own store of time. You’ll come to realize that you’re dying before your time.”
On the Shortness of Life, 3-3