“The founder of the universe, who assigned to us the laws of life, provided that we should live well, but not in luxury. Everything needed for our well-being is right before us, whereas what luxury requires is gathered by many miseries and anxieties. Let us use this gift of nature (more…)
“Heraclitus would shed tears whenever he went out in public—Democritus laughed. One saw the whole as a parade of miseries, the other of follies. And so, we should take a lighter view of things and bear them with an easy spirit, for it is more human to laugh at life (more…)
“I was shipwrecked before I even boarded . . . the journey showed me this—how much of what we have is unnecessary, and how easily we can decide to rid ourselves of these things whenever it’s necessary, never suffering the loss.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 87.1 Tumeiona siku hii ya leo (more…)
“Won’t you be walking in your predecessors’ footsteps? I surely will use the older path, but if I find a shorter and smoother way, I’ll blaze a trail there. The ones who pioneered these paths aren’t our masters, but our guides. Truth stands open to everyone, it hasn’t been monopolized.” (more…)
“I’ll never be ashamed to quote a bad writer with a good saying.” —SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 11.8 Ni siku mpya, siku nzuri na ya kipekee sana kwetu. Tumepata nafasi nyingine bora sana kwetu kwenda kuweka juhudi kubwa ili kuweza kupata matokeo bora sana. Msingi wetu ni NIDHAMU, UADILIFU (more…)
“Therefore, explain why a wise person shouldn’t get drunk—not with words, but by the facts of its ugliness and offensiveness. It’s most easy to prove that so-called pleasures, when they go beyond proper measure, are but punishments.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 83.27 Ni siku mpya, siku bora na ya kipekee wana (more…)
“It’s ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and miserable in advance of misery, engulfed by anxiety that the things it desires might remain its own until the very end. For such a soul will never be at rest—by longing for things to come it will lose (more…)
“Inwardly, we ought to be different in every respect, but our outward dress should blend in with the crowd.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 5.2 Hongera sana mwanamafanikio kwa siku hii mpya na bora sana tuliyoiona leo. Ni siku bora na ya kipekee sana kwetu kwenda kuweka juhudi kubwa ili kuweza kupata (more…)
“It is said that if you would have peace of mind, busy yourself with little. But wouldn’t a better saying be do what you must and as required of a rational being created for public life? For this brings not only the peace of mind of doing few things, but (more…)
“For nothing outside my reasoned choice can hinder or harm it—my reasoned choice alone can do this to itself. If we would lean this way whenever we fail, and would blame only ourselves and remember that nothing but opinion is the cause of a troubled mind and uneasiness, then by (more…)