If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes.
Seneca writes this in a letter on festivals and fasting, urging Lucilius to set aside a few days to live on the plainest food and coarsest clothes and ask himself, “Is this the condition that I feared?” He compares it to soldiers who drill in peacetime.
If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to opinion, you will never be rich.
Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty; the difficulty comes from our lack of confidence.
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful.
The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.