„Ha bölcs vagy, kösd össze ezt a két elemet: ne reménykedj kétség nélkül, és ne ess kétségbe remény nélkül.”
Si sapis, alterum alteri misce: nec speraveris sine desperatione nec desperaveris sine spe.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca híres idézetei
„Semmilyen szél nem kedvez annak, aki nem tudja, melyik kikötőbe tart.”
errant consilia nostra, quia non habent quo derigantur; ignoranti quem portum petat nullus suus ventus est.
„Nem az szegény, akinek csak kevese van, hanem aki többre vágyik.”
Non qui parum habet, sed qui plus cupit, pauper est.
„A háborúnál csak a háborútól való félelem rosszabb.”
peior est bello timor ipse belli.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca idézetek
„Mert egyetlen ember sem szabad, aki testének rabszolgája.”
Nemo liber est qui corpori servit.
„Senki sem képes uralkodni, ha nem képes elviselni, hogy uralva legyen.”
nemo autem regere potest nisi qui et regi.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca: Idézetek angolul
“Of war men ask the outcome, not the cause.”
quaeritur belli exitus, non causa.
Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules), line 407; (Lycus).
Tragedies
“A golden bit does not make a better horse.”
Non faciunt meliorem equum aurei freni.
Letter XLI: On the god within us
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XLI: On the god within us
Letters to Lucilius, letter 91, page 294. https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Lettres_%C3%A0_Lucilius/Lettre_91
Other works
“What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.”
From Moral Essays: Ad Marciam De Consolatione http://thriceholy.net/Texts/Marcia.html (trans. J. W. Basore)
Other works
“You are doing an excellent thing, one which will be wholesome for you, if, as you write me, you are persisting in your effort to attain sound understanding; it is foolish to pray for this when you can acquire it from yourself. We do not need to uplift our hands towards heaven, or to beg the keeper of a temple to let us approach his idol's ear, as if in this way our prayers were more likely to be heard. A god is near you, with you, and in you. This is what I mean, Lucilius: there sits a holy spirit within us, one who marks our good and bad deeds, and is our a guardian.”
Facis rem optimam et tibi salutarem, si, ut scribis, perseveras ire ad bonam mentem, quam stultum est optare, cum possis a te impetrare. Non sunt ad caelum elevandae inarms nee exorandus aedituus, ut nos ad aurem simulacri, quasi magis exaudiri possimus, admittat; Prope est a te deus, tecum est, intus est. Ita dico, Lucili: sacer intra nos spiritus sedet, malorum bonorumque nostrorum observator et custos...
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XLI: On the god within us
“Man is a reasoning animal.”
Rationale enim animal est homo.
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XLI: On the god within us
“A great pilot can sail even when his canvas is rent.”
Magnus gubernator et scisso navigat velo.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XXX: On conquering the conqueror, Line 3.
“All savageness is a sign of weakness.”
Omnis enim ex infirmitate feritas est.
De Vita Beata (On the Happy Life): cap. 3, line 4
Alternate translation: All cruelty springs from weakness. (translator unknown)
As quoted in Caxtoniana: A Series of Essays on Life, Literature, and Manners (1864), Harper & brothers, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, p. 174 (in the essay The Sympathetic Temperment).
Moral Essays
“Who profits by a sin has done the sin.”
Cui prodest scelus, is fecit.
Medea, lines 500-501; (Medea)
Alternate translation: He who profits by crime commits it. (translator unknown).
Tragedies
“Things ’twas hard to bear ’tis pleasant to recall.”
quae fuit durum pati, meminisse dulce est.
Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules), lines 656-657; (Amphitryon)
Alternate translation: Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember. (translator unknown).
Tragedies
“All art is but imitation of nature.”
Omnis ars naturae imitatio est.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXV: On the first cause, Line 3.
“We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods.”
Saepe aliud volumus, aliud optamus, et verum ne dis quidem dicimus.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XCV: On the usefulness of basic principles, Line 2.
“He [Hercules] will find a way — or make one.”
inveniet viam aut faciet.
Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules), line 276; (Amphitryon)
In this line, Seneca adapts a well-known saying "Inveniam viam aut faciam" (commonly attributed to the Carthaginian general Hannibal) for use in his drama
Tragedies
“If any one is angry with you, meet his anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two men to fight.”
Irascetur aliquis: tu contra beneficiis prouoca; cadit statim simultas ab altera parte deserta; nisi paria non pugnant.
De Ira (On Anger): Book 2, cap. 34, line 5.
Moral Essays
“That most knowing of persons – gossip.”
Is qui scit plurimum, rumor.
Letter XLIII: On the relativity of fame, line 1.
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XLIII: On the relativity of fame
“What then? Shall I not follow in the footsteps of my predecessors? I shall indeed use the old road, but if I find one that makes a shorter cut and is smoother to travel, I shall open the new road. Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides. Truth lies open for all; it has not yet been monopolized. And there is plenty of it left even for posterity to discover.”
Quid ergo? non ibo per priorum vestigia? ego vero utar via vetere, sed si propiorem planioremque invenero, hanc muniam. Qui ante nos ista moverunt non domini nostri sed duces sunt. Patet omnibus veritas; nondum est occupata; multum ex illa etiam futuris relictum est.
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XXXIII
“Friendship is always helpful, but love sometimes even does harm”
Amicitia semper prodest, amor aliquando etiam nocet
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XXXV
“Don't ask for what you'll wish you hadn't got.”
postea noli rogare quod inpetrare nolueris.
Seneca himself states that he is quoting a 'common saying' here.
Alternate translation: Do not ask for what you will wish you had not got. (translator unknown).
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XCV: On the usefulness of basic principles, Line 1
“The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.”
Sapiens vivit quantum debet, non quantum potest.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXX: On the proper time to slip the cable, Line 4.
“He who, when he may, forbids not sin, commands it.”
Qui non vetat peccare cum possit, iubet.
Troades (The Trojan Women), line 291 (Agamemnon)
Alternate translation: He who does not prevent a crime, when he can, encourages it. (translator unknown).
Tragedies
“A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.”
Magna pars libertatis est bene moratus venter et contumeliae patiens.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter CXXIII: On the conflict between pleasure and virtue, Line 3.
“No man expects such exact fidelity as a traitor.”
fidei acerrimus exactor est perfidus
De Ira (On Anger): Book 2, cap. 28, line 7.
Moral Essays
“It is too late to spare when you reach the dregs of the cask.”
Sera parsimonia in fundo est.
Letter I: On saving time, line 5
This quote is often directly attributed to Seneca, but he is referring to lines 368-369 of Works and Days by the Greek poet Hesiod : Take your fill when the cask is first opened and when it is nearly spent, but midways be sparing: it is poor saving when you come to the lees. (translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White)
Alternate translation: Thrift comes too late when you find it at the bottom of your purse. (translator unknown)
Alternate translation: It is too late to be thrifty when the bottom has been reached. (translator unknown).
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter I: On Saving Time
“Live among men as if God beheld you; speak with God as if men were listening.”
sic vive cum hominibus tamquam deus videat, si loquere cum deo tamquam homines audiant.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter X: On living to oneself, Line 5.
“A great fortune is a great slavery.”
Magna servitus est magna fortuna. / Magna servitus est magna servitus
From Ad Polybium De Consolatione (Of Consolation, To Polybius), chap. VI, line 5
Other works
“What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily?”
Quem mihi dabis qui aliquod pretium tempori ponat, qui diem aestimet, qui intellegat se cotidie mori?
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter I: On Saving Time
“On him does death lie heavily, who, but too well known to all, dies to himself unknown.”
Illi mors gravis incubat
Qui notus nimis omnibus
Ignotus moritur sibi
Illi mors gravis incubat
Qui notus nimis omnibus
Ignotus moritur sibi
Thyestes, lines 401-403; (Chorus).
Alternate translation: Death weighs on him who is known to all, but dies unknown to himself. (The Philisophical Life by James Miller).
Tragedies
“Nothing lasts forever, few things even last for long: all are susceptible of decay in one way or another; moreover all that begins also ends.”
Nihil perpetuum, pauca diuturna sunt; aliud alio modo fragile est, rerum exitus variantur, ceterum quicquid coepit et desinit.
From Ad Polybium De Consolatione (Of Consolation, To Polybius), chap. I; translation based on work of Aubrey Stewart
Other works
“It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”
Confragosa in fastigium dignitatis via est.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXXXIV: On gathering ideas, Line 13
“What is wisdom? Always desiring the same things, and always refusing the same things.”
quid est sapienta? semper idem velle atque idem nolle.
Here, Seneca uses the same observation that Sallust made regarding friendship (in his historical account of the Catilinarian conspiracy, Bellum Catilinae[XX.4]) to define wisdom.
Forrás: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XX: On practicing what you preach, Line 5