50 phrases of Seneca: his most famous quotes about life and love

Have you ever heard the expression "be a Seneca"? The expression alludes to the Roman rhetor, philosopher, politician and writer Seneca, that he lived between the year 4 a. C. and 65 d. C. He was known as a fascinating thinker, leading to both Stoicism and Roman moralism.

Seneca was thus highly respected and seen as a true genius; hence, ‘being a Seneca’ refers to both an intelligent and an interesting person. Here we leave you some of Seneca's most famous phrases so that you understand his thinking.

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50 Seneca phrases to understand his thinking

Here you will find 50 phrases of Seneca and the most famous thoughts of this outstanding Roman, from phrases about life and love, even phrases about death and friendship. What do you want to reflect on?

1. He is a king who fears nothing, he is a king who wishes nothing; and we can all give ourselves that kingdom.

This is one of the most famous of Seneca's phrases, and speaks in an optimistic tone about how we can all achieve the satisfaction of agency.

2. Worse are hidden hatreds than uncovered ones.

In this sentence, Seneca reflects on how resentment is much more painful than confrontation.

3. It is the same virtue to moderate in joy as to moderate in pain.

Here the idea of ​​balance as a source of well-being is portrayed, curiously this Roman coinciding with the future Buddhist monks.

4. From everywhere there is the same distance to the stars.

Seneca creates in this phrase one of those that, depending on the context, can have different meanings; You could be talking about social equality, for example.

5. Say what we feel. Feel what we say. Match the words with life.

It is one of Seneca's best phrases, and talks about the importance of knowing how to agree what we feel with what we say and do.

6. It is nice to be important, but more important is to be nice.

In this sentence, Seneca talks about how honesty and kindness should prevail over any kind of fame or recognition.

7. It is much more important that you know yourself than to make yourself known to others.

This phrase is perfect for when you feel insecure about yourself., or for those moments of existential crisis.

8. We do not dare to many things because they are difficult, but they are difficult because we do not dare to do them.

Seneca perfectly portrays in this optimistic phrase the idea that everything is possible for everyone if you do it with the right attitude, and that many times the reality of something is not as terrible as its idea.

9. What the law does not prohibit, honesty can prohibit.

Being Seneca a politician, this is one of the phrases in which he talks about the values ​​that a person must have, and as many times the legislature cannot regulate them, the values ​​have to be regulated by man and virtue herself.

10. Friendship is always helpful; love sometimes hurts.

Among Seneca's phrases, this is the one that talks about love. Seneca preferred friendship a thousand times to love, and that is reflected in this phrase.

11. Great riches, great slavery.

It is clear that Seneca did not value money at all, and that, what is more, he abhorred the excess of it. He felt that a large amount of money limited man's freedom, instead of expanding it, as is perceived by most of society.

12. Sometimes even living is an act of courage.

Although Seneca saw overcoming obstacles as required, he still admitted that this was something immensely difficult and worthy of recognition.

13. No matter how high fortune may have put a man, he always needs a friend.

Many of Seneca's phrases speak of the importance of friendship, and the trust that this entails. Here he talks, then, about how a person always needs good company, no matter how "good" life has gone.

14. A man without passions is so close to stupidity that he only needs to open his mouth to fall for it.

This phrase talks about the passion for something it can save anyone from ignorance, being light against obscurantism. Passion is itself a longing for life, and wanting to live is a thirst for knowledge.

15. Judge yourself happy when you can live in full view of the world.

This phrase can have several interpretations, such as saying that it is not to be judged, because you too can be judged.

16. There is no calmer than that engendered by reason.

Seneca being a thinker, for him logic prevailed over passion, although he also considered it very important. Here he refers to how certain things cheer more than mere speculation.

17. If you want your secret to be kept, keep it yourself.

A secret promises to be spread from the first time it is spoken.

18. Happiness is not needing it.

Seneca talks about how putting happiness as a goal ties you to it, and bondage will never let you be happy. Happiness is, then, the freedom to let it come to you.

19. Twice he who defeats himself in victory wins.

Speaking of resilience and self-improvement, the true victory belongs to those who admit their faults and face them.

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20. Some are considered large because the pedestal is also counted.

Many people are considered prestigious (even if they are not) for the simple fact of having been idealized.

21. Fortune has no power over moral life.

A person, no matter how much money or luck he may have, has no right to dictate what is good or what is bad. Also, an influential person is not necessarily 'good'.

22. Unforeseen misfortune hurts us more strongly.

Seneca talks here about how surprise is always a factor to consider when involved, and how this factor goes bad when involvement is not about something good.

23. Fate leads the one who accepts it, and drags the one who refuses to admit it.

In Seneca's time, fate was faithfully believed. Here he talks about how it is better to accept the inevitable than to fight against it and suffer.

24. Medicine and morals rest on a common basis, on the physical knowledge of human nature.

There are things that are simply human; small defects and weaknesses that everyone has, both in morals and in health.

25. What is learned from the roots is never completely forgotten.

With this reflection he expresses that what he has learned from childhood lasts.

26. The wound of love, who heals it, creates it.

As much as we don't want to, everyone in our lives will find ourselves hurt at one point, and hurt at another.

27. The reward of a good action is having done it.

In this sentence, Seneca talks about how one should never expect to be rewarded for being good, since being good is something one should do by nature.

28. Unhappy is he who is so.

By complaining about your fortune all the time, you condemn yourself to being unlucky even if you are not.

29. He deserves to be deceived who, when making a profit, took into account the reward.

Seneca considers a hypocrite who helps someone for his own benefit, and he also considers that whoever is a hypocrite deserves to be served with his own medicine.

30. Life is neither good nor bad, it is only an occasion for good and evil.

As we have established before, Seneca believed in destiny. Here then he talks about how life goes by, not being good or bad but having good things and bad things.

31. Ugly words, even lightly spoken offend.

For more adjectives and metaphors you put, what you say is what you say, period.

32. He who wants to live only among the righteous, let him live in the desert.

Seneca had clear ideas about the values ​​that each person should have, but he was also clear that nobody has them all.

33. He does not enjoy the possession of any good if it is not in company.

As we mentioned previously, Seneca highly valued friendship; In this sentence he explains that he considered that the value of things was only authentic if he was with others.

34. We must consult everything with the friend, but first we must consult if it is.

Following the thread of the last quote, it must be added that true friends are difficult to find.

35. The first art that those who aspire to power must learn is that of being able to endure hatred.

A politician himself, Seneca was aware that all public figures, whatever they do, are heavily criticized. He intends to draw attention to it in this sentence, although without showing it as something bad, but natural.

36. Weigh the opinions, don't count them.

Have an open mind to all points of view, but do not put value in all.

37. Anger: an acid that can do more damage to the container in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

The anger to whom it hurts the most is to the one who has it.

38. There is no genius without a hint of insanity.

The great philosopher talks about how under any great admirable intelligence there is a bit of disagreement.

39. They lose the day to wait for the night, and the night for fear of dawn.

It seems to be human nature to fear the passage of time.

40. It is better to learn useless things than to learn nothing.

Here he is portrayed again Seneca's great love for knowledge, and all the value he placed on it, however impractical it was.

41. This day that you fear so much for being the last is the dawn of the eternal day.

Seneca's phrase that talks about the fear of death, but with a touch of hope and the certainty of an afterlife.

42. Ad astra per aspera.

This is one of the most famous phrases of the acclaimed Seneca, and translates to "to the stars through adversity." He talks about how there are obstacles to everything in life, but that nothing is unrealizable.

43. The more the effort grows, the more we consider the greatness of what has been undertaken.

More than the feat, what he counts is the effort and sacrifice made to perform it.

44. Our nature is in action. Rest heralds death.

Seneca considered laziness as the most terrible vice of the human, and in this sentence he says that such a vice goes against nature, and can lead to death.

45. What, then, is good? The science. What is evil? The ignorance.

Knowledge is heroes in a world populated by the villains of ignorance.

46. All the total harmony of this world is made up of discords.

Seneca saw beauty in the small imperfections of existence.

47. A ship that would appear large in the river would be very small in the open sea.

All recognition depends on the situation.

48. To win without danger is to win without glory.

One has to take risks to get what he wants.

49. If you want to be loved, you have to love.

To receive any feeling, you have to express that feeling first, this is what this phrase from Seneca teaches us.

50. Show me how limited my time is, because the good of life does not lie in its extension but in its use.

This ancient thinker did not see time as something necessary in quantitybecause she saw the true value of it in using it wisely and passionately.

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