“These actions are not essentially difficult; it is we ourselves that are soft and flabby.”

—  Seneca the Younger, book Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXXI: On the supreme good

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "These actions are not essentially difficult; it is we ourselves that are soft and flabby." by Seneca the Younger?
Seneca the Younger photo
Seneca the Younger225
Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist -4–65 BC

Related quotes

Samuel Smiles photo

“Good actions give strength to ourselves, and inspire good actions in others.”

Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) Scottish author

Duty: With Illustrations of Courage, Patience, and Endurance (1880), Ch. 2, p. 49

“It’s probably unfair to expect the world at large, or even most people, to see us for all we are. It is essential, however, that we see ourselves for all we are. (413)”

Victoria Moran (1950) American writer

Source: Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit

Milan Kundera photo

“We can reproach ourselves for some action, for a remark, but not for a feeling, quite simply because we have no control at all over it.”

Milan Kundera (1929–2023) Czech author of Czech and French literature

Quintilian photo

“Accordingly, the first essential is that those feelings should prevail with us that we wish to prevail with the judge, and that we should be moved ourselves before we attempt to move others.”
Primum est igitur ut apud nos valeant ea quae valere apud iudicem volumus, adficiamurque antequam adficere conemur.

Quintilian (35–96) ancient Roman rhetor

Book VI, Chapter II, 28; translation by H. E. Butler
De Institutione Oratoria (c. 95 AD)

“The onset of fear makes the simplest actions complex and difficult.”

David Gemmell book Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf

ibid
Drenai series, Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf

Michael Crichton photo

“I want to make it perfectly clear that I believe it is incumbent on us to conduct our lives in a way that takes into account all the consequences of our actions, including the consequences to other people, and the consequences to the environment. I believe it is essential to act in ways that are sympathetic to the environment, now and in the future. I believe that the world has genuine problems and I believe they must be addressed effectively.
But I also think that deciding what constitutes responsible action is immensely difficult, and I believe the consequences of our actions are often difficult to know in advance.”

Michael Crichton book State of Fear

State of Fear (2004)

Lawrence H. Summers photo

“The country will not have to pay the piper. Through a combination of sound policy actions and a great deal of good luck we are well on our way to a soft landing and a period of growth and price stability.”

Lawrence H. Summers (1954) Former US Secretary of the Treasury

Lawrence Summers in: David Warsh (April 20, 1986) "Stockman's Timing Was Never Worse", Boston Globe, p. A1.
1980s

Jorge Luis Borges photo

“My undertaking is not difficult, essentially… I should only have to be immortal to carry it out.”

Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish language literature

"Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" ["Pierre Menard, autor del Quijote"]
The Garden of Forking Paths (1942)

Thomas Nagel photo

“Ethics increases the range of what it is about ourselves that we can will—extending it from our actions to the motives and character traits and dispositions from which they arise. We want to be able to will the sources of our actions down to the very bottom.”

Thomas Nagel (1937) American philosopher

Source: The View From Nowhere (1986), p. 135.

Steve Killelea photo

“One of the key benefits that emerges from the Global Peace Index is the concept of measuring peace. It is very difficult to understand what we can’t measure. It is also very difficult to understand the effectiveness of our actions without measurements.”

Steve Killelea (1949) Australian businessman

Peace and Sustainability: Cornerstones to survival in the 21st century http://www.visionofhumanity.org/images/content/Documents/2007%20GPI%20Final%20Discussion%20Paper.pdf (2007)

Related topics