Seneca the Younger Quotes
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, commonly known as Seneca the Younger, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist of the first century. He served as tutor and later adviser to the emperor Nero, before being forced to commit suicide in 65 AD on suspicion of involvement in a conspiracy against him. The quotes below are attributed to Seneca the Younger, organized by topic.
Seneca the Younger on Freedom
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“He who is brave is free.”
Seneca the Younger on Happiness
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
Seneca the Younger on Life
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“Our care should not be to have lived long, but to have lived enough.”
Seneca the Younger on Mind
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body.”
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.”
Seneca the Younger on Time
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”
Seneca the Younger on Virtue
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Attributed to Seneca the Younger:
“If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favourable.”
Things actually not said by Seneca the Younger
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as Seneca the Younger but are in fact from someone else. Did Seneca the Younger say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
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Did Seneca the Younger say this? No.
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
This line is widely circulated as Seneca, but the English phrasing has not been located in his Letters, essays, or other works. Seneca did write on related themes, including the relation of preparation to fortune, but the specific aphorism in this form appears to be a 20th-century formulation; American football coach Darrell Royal is among the earliest cited modern users.