Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time.
Seneca makes this point in the very first of his letters, headed “On saving time”. He adds that nature has entrusted us with only this one possession, so fleeting that anyone who wishes can take it from us.
If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to opinion, you will never be rich.
If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes.
Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty; the difficulty comes from our lack of confidence.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp, / The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.