Letters 95.13

People say: “The old-style wisdom advised only what one should do and avoid; and yet the men of former days were better men by far. When savants have appeared, sages have become rare. For that frank, simple virtue has changed into hidden and crafty knowledge; we are taught how to debate, not how to live.”

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 95.13, translated by Richard Mott Gummere