Book: Moral letters to Lucilius. Page 1

So shouldn't poverty be loved for the fact that it clearly shows who loves us?

People do not know what they want until that moment, until they want something.

No one knows for sure what he wants, and if he does, then he does not achieve his goal with perseverance, but jumps to something else and not only changes his intentions, but also returns back to what he left and what he himself condemned.

The first duty of the wise and the first sign of wisdom is not to allow discrepancy between word and deed and to be always yourself.

A small loan makes a person your debtor, a big enemy.

He is mistaken who looks for friends in the hallway, but tests them at the table. The greatest misfortune of a man who is busy and absorbed in his possessions is that he thinks of many as friends, not being their friend, and thinks that he makes friends by virtue, while people most of all hate those to whom they owe the most.

First look at who you eat and drink with, and then what you eat and drink. After all, getting drunk without friends is a matter of a lion or a wolf.

The peaks, their very height, amaze with thunder.

One of the pledges of security is not to strive for it openly: after all, from what we hold on, we condemn.

We are most in awe of what threatens the power of others: after all, such a misfortune comes with great noise and confusion.

After all, everyone, once having lost peace, is ready to give himself free rein and will not believe the fear in reality.

After all, we suffer for the most part from suspicion, we are fooled by the one that often ends wars, and even more often finishes people off one by one - rumor.

Promise me one thing: when they begin to convince you from all sides that you are unhappy, think not about what you hear, but about what you feel.

We are either increasing our suffering, or inventing it, or anticipating it.