Statesman, writer, adviser to Nero · c. 4 BCE–65 CE
Seneca
A statesman, playwright and one of the wealthiest men of his day, who wrote the warmest and most readable Stoic prose we have: letters to a friend, and short essays on anger, grief and the shortness of life.
- Works
- 12
- Passages
- 2,435
- Words
- 354,401
- To read it all
- 24 hours
In his own words
Ten lines to start with
Time
Thus it is: we do not receive a short life, but we make it a short one, and we are not poor in days, but wasteful of them.
Time
Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time.
Fear
There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.
Anger
The greatest remedy for anger is delay…
Adversity
Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men.
Fortune
Fortune has no jurisdiction over character.
Wealth
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
Friendship
‘What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.’ That was indeed a great benefit; such a person can never be alone.
Death
We do not fear death; we fear the thought of death.
Living
Therefore, my dear Lucilius, begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.
Quote 1 of 10
Life
Who was Seneca?
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was born in Corduba, in Spain, and educated in rhetoric and philosophy in Rome. He became a statesman, a writer of tragedies and one of the wealthiest men of his day.
In 41 he was accused of adultery with a sister of the emperor Caligula and exiled to Corsica. He had been tutor to the young Nero, and when Nero became emperor in 54, Seneca was among his advisers.
He stayed on as times grew more dangerous for anyone close to Nero, despite asking to be allowed to retire. In 65 he was charged with complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to murder Nero, and compelled to take his own life.
- c. 4 BCEBorn in Corduba, Spain. Educated in Rome.
- 41Exiled to Corsica, accused of adultery with a sister of Caligula.
- Before 54Tutor to the young Nero.
- 54Nero becomes emperor; Seneca is among his advisers.
- LaterAsks, and is refused, permission to retire.
- 65Charged in the Pisonian conspiracy and compelled to die.
Four lives
Works
12 works, free to read
- Letters to LuciliusSeneca
Letters to Lucilius
2,140 passages · 14 hours
- On the Shortness of LifeSeneca
On the Shortness of Life
20 parts · 43 min
- On Tranquillity of MindSeneca
On Tranquillity of Mind
17 parts · 53 min
- On the Happy LifeSeneca
On the Happy Life
28 parts · 51 min
- On AngerSeneca
On Anger
100 passages · 3 hours
- On ProvidenceSeneca
On Providence
6 parts · 27 min
- On the Firmness of the Wise ManSeneca
On the Firmness of the Wise Man
19 parts · 35 min
- On LeisureSeneca
On Leisure
8 parts · 14 min
- On ClemencySeneca
On Clemency
33 passages · 58 min
- Consolation to MarciaSeneca
Consolation to Marcia
26 parts · 59 min
- Consolation to HelviaSeneca
Consolation to Helvia
20 parts · 45 min
- Consolation to PolybiusSeneca
Consolation to Polybius
18 parts · 37 min
In numbers
The words he leans on
Words Seneca uses far more often than the other three Stoics, counted across everything of theirs on this site. Pick one to compare.
Seneca uses ‘fortune’ 9.6 times as often as the other three.
- Marcus1.8
- Seneca10.1
- Epictetus1
- Musonius0.4
Uses per 10,000 words
Seneca on fortuneWhat matter how little it is that Fortune can refuse to you?
In numbers
Who he talks about
The people Seneca names most often. Pick one to read the lines where they come up.
CatoRoman statesman
Seneca names him 112 times.
Choose therefore a Cato; or, if Cato seems too severe a model, choose some Laelius, a gentler spirit.
Connections
Teachers and students
- Senecac. 4 BCE–65 CEBoth in Nero’s Rome
- Musonius Rufus1st century CETaught himNamed 7 times in the Discourses
- Epictetusc. 50–135 CERead his discoursesLent by Rusticus; named 6 times in the Meditations
- Marcus Aurelius121–180 CE
Go further
Guides and other Stoics
- The Stoics on emotions: not suppression, but understandingNot suppression: where feelings come from, and how to change the ones that harm you.
- Memento mori: what the Stoics meant by remembering deathRemembering death, not to be morbid but to stop wasting time and fearing the wrong things.
- Stoic resilience: how the Stoics faced hardshipThe Stoics trained for a hard life instead of hoping for an easy one. How they went about it.
Sources
- Rachana Kamtekar, “Marcus Aurelius”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Katja Vogt, “Seneca”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Margaret Graver, “Epictetus”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- William O. Stephens, “Musonius Rufus”, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Word and name counts are from the English translations on this site, so they reflect the translators’ choices as well as the authors’.