‘It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.’ Letter 2: On Discursiveness in Reading
‘Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man’s power to live long.’ Letter 22: On the Futility of Half-Way Measures
‘There are a few men whom slavery holds fast, but there are many more who hold fast to slavery.’ Letter 22: On the Futility of Half-Way Measures
‘A good man will not waste himself upon mean and discreditable work or be busy merely for the sake of being busy.’ Letter 22: On the Futility of Half-Way Measures
‘Accordingly, look about you for the opportunity; if you see it, grasp it, and with all your energy and with all your strength devote yourself to this task.’ Letter 22: On the Futility of Half-Way Measures
‘If you wish,’ said he, ‘to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires.’ Letter 21: On the Renown Which My Writings Will Bring You
‘Prove your words by your deeds.’ Letter 20: On Practicing What you Preach
‘Let us become intimate with poverty, so that Fortune may not catch us off our guard. We shall be rich with all the more comfort, if we once learn how far poverty is from being a burden.’ Letter 18: On Festivals and Fasting
‘Change the age in which you live, and you have too much. But in every age, what is enough remains the same.’ Letter 17: On Philosophy and Riches
‘If anything forbids you to live nobly, nothing forbids you to die nobly.’ Letter 17: On Philosophy and Riches
‘If you wish to have leisure for your mind, either be a poor man, or resemble a poor man. Study cannot be helpful unless you take pains to live simply; and living simply is voluntary poverty.’ Letter 17: On Philosophy and Riches
‘If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to opinion, you will never be rich.’ Letter 16: On Philosophy, the Guide of Life
‘A happy life is reached when our wisdom is brought to completion, but that life is at least endurable even when our wisdom is only begun.’ Letter 16: On Philosophy, the Guide of Life
‘The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.’ Letter 15: On Brawn and Brains
‘Next, we must follow the old adage and avoid three things with special care: hatred, jealousy, and scorn.’ Letter 14: On the Reasons for Withdrawing from the World
‘There are more things likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.’ Letter 13: On Groundless Fears
‘When a man has said: ‘I have lived!’, every morning he arises he receives a bonus.’ Letter 12: On Old Age
‘Happy is the man who can make others better, not merely when he is in their company, but even when he is in their thoughts!’ Letter 11: On the Blush of Modesty
‘Nothing is needed by the fool, for he does not understand how to use anything, but he is in want of everything.’ Letter 9: On Philosophy and Friendship
‘Hope and fear, dissimilar as they are, keep step together; fear follows hope.’ Letter 5: On The Philosopher’s Mean
‘Pleasure, unless it has been kept within bounds, tends to rush headlong into the abyss of sorrow.’ Letter 23: On the True Joy Which Comes from Philosophy
The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.’ Letter 2: On Discursiveness in Reading
‘No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it.’ Letter 4: On The Terrors of Death
‘Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardships of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die.’ Letter 4: On The Terrors of Death
‘Cease to hope,’ he says, ‘and you will cease to fear.’ Letter 5: On The Philosopher’s Mean
‘If you seek joy in the midst of cares, these objects for which you strive so eagerly as if they would give you happiness and pleasure, are merely causes of grief.’ Letter 59 On Pleasure and Joy
‘How can a man learn, in the struggle against his vices, an amount that is enough, if the time which he gives to learning is only the amount left over from his vices?’ Letter 59 On Pleasure and Joy
‘Before I became old I tried to live well; now that I am old, I shall try to die well; but dying well means dying gladly.’ Letter 61 On Meeting Death Cheerfully
‘We must make ready for death before we make ready for life.’ Letter 61 On Meeting Death Cheerfully