Daily Classics Library

#261

Pensées

Pensées · Section XIV · 861

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Governance

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 261, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XIV · fragment 861,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.

Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.

Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Pascal left these unfinished fragments amid seventeenth-century French scientific development, religious controversy, and illness, probably for a projected Christian apology. Modern grouping and numbering reflect Brunschvicg’s editorial decisions rather than a finished authorial order. Analysis distinguishes religious argument, mathematics, historical evidence, and personal experience.

Period: 17th-century France; early modern science and religious controversy
Region: France
Work date: Fragments written mainly c. 1657–1662; Brunschvicg edition published 1897–1925
Edition: Léon Brunschvicg edition, Section XIV

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Bel état de l’Église quand elle n’est plus soutenue que de Dieu.

#262

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXVI. §7

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Power and justice

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 262, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……I. §7 · Liber VII · LXVI. §7,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.

Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.

Important reminder: Do not judge a person from one sentence. Check what happened and think with a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber VII

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[7] Haec eius est facies, si sub unum veniat aspectum et semel tota se ostendat. Ceterum multae eius species sunt, quae pro vitae varietate et pro actionibus explicantur: nec minor fit aut maior ipsa. Decrescere enim summum bonum non potest nec virtuti ire retro licet; sed in alias atque alias qualitates convertitur, ad rerum quas actura est habitum figurata.

#263

Meditations

Meditations · Book 7, passage 10

Marcus Aurelius · Translator: George Long

English Reflection Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 263, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 7, passage 10 · book-7-p-10,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant today.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Marcus Aurelius governed in the second century CE amid frontier wars, imperial administration, and the Antonine plague. The Meditations are private Greek exercises; the exact date and place of individual notes are often uncertain. This edition uses George Long’s 1862 translation.

Period: Roman Empire, 2nd century CE; 1862 English translation
Region: Roman Empire / United Kingdom edition
Work date: Original notes c. 170s CE; translation first published 1862
Edition: Standard Ebooks edition of George Long’s translation

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Everything material soon disappears in the substance of the whole; and everything formal [causal] is very soon taken back into the universal reason; and the memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.

#264

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXXVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §36

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 264, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §36,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant today.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber XI – XIII

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[36] 'At enim delectat artium notitia multarum.' Tantum itaque ex illis retineamus quantum necessarium est. An tu existimas reprendendum qui supervacua usibus comparat et pretiosarum rerum pompam in domo explicat, non putas eum qui occupatus est in supervacua litterarum supellectile? Plus scire velle quam sit satis intemperantiae genus est.

#265

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · XCV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §18

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Governance

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 265, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §18,” can mean this: Real effort makes something better. It is not only looking busy.

Try this: Observe first and guess second. Change your mind when clues change.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber XIV – XV

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[18] Quid alios referam innumerabiles morbos, supplicia luxuriae? Immunes erant ab istis malis qui nondum se delicis solverant, qui sibi imperabant, sibi ministrabant. Corpora opere ac vero labore durabant, aut cursu defatigati aut venatu aut tellure versanda; excipiebat illos cibus qui nisi esurientibus placere non posset. Itaque nihil opus erat tam magna medicorum supellectile nec tot ferramentis atque puxidibus. Simplex erat ex causa simplici valetudo: multos morbos multa fericula fecerunt.

#266

Pensées

Pensées · Section XII · 769

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 266, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XII · fragment 769,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.

Try this: If something is hard today, say, “Please help me.”

Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Pascal left these unfinished fragments amid seventeenth-century French scientific development, religious controversy, and illness, probably for a projected Christian apology. Modern grouping and numbering reflect Brunschvicg’s editorial decisions rather than a finished authorial order. Analysis distinguishes religious argument, mathematics, historical evidence, and personal experience.

Period: 17th-century France; early modern science and religious controversy
Region: France
Work date: Fragments written mainly c. 1657–1662; Brunschvicg edition published 1897–1925
Edition: Léon Brunschvicg edition, Section XII

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La conversion des païens n’était réservée qu’à la grâce du Messie. Les Juifs ont été si longtemps à les combattre sans succès ; tout ce qu’en ont dit Salomon et les prophètes a été inutile. Les sages, comme Platon et Socrate, n’ont pu le persuader.

#267

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · C. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Speech and truth

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 267, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.

Try this: Today, listen until another person finishes, then answer.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber XVI

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[1] Fabiani Papiri libros qui inscribuntur civilium legisse te cupidissime scribis, et non respondisse expectationi tuae; deinde oblitus de philosopho agi compositionem eius accusas. Puta esse quod dicis et effundi verba, non figi. Primum habet ista res suam gratiam et est decor proprius orationis leniter lapsae; multum enim interesse existimo utrum exciderit an fluxerit. <Adice> nunc quod in hoc quoque quod dicturus sum ingens differentia est:

#268

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · CXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §20

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Learning

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 268, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §20,” can mean this: New learning becomes stronger when we practise it again.

Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.

Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber XIX

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[20] Obsecro vos, tam necessariam curam maioribus melioribusque debitam in re nescio an falsa, certe inutili terimus? Quid mihi profuturum est scire an aliud sit sapientia, aliud sapere? Quid mihi profuturum est scire illud bonum esse, <hoc non esse>? Temere me geram, subibo huius voti aleam: tibi sapientia, mihi sapere contingat. Pares erimus.

#269

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §7

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Governance

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 269, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §7,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.

Try this: After a task, check whether it truly helped someone.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber VIII

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[7] Dicam quomodo intellegas sanum: si se ipse contentus est, si confidit sibi, si scit omnia vota mortalium, omnia beneficia quae dantur petunturque, nullum in beata vita habere momentum. Nam cui aliquid accedere potest, id imperfectum est; cui aliquid abscedere potest, id imperpetuum est: cuius perpetua futura laetitia est, is suo gaudeat. Omnia autem quibus vulgus inhiat ultro citroque fluunt: nihil dat fortuna mancipio. Sed haec quoque fortuita tunc delectant cum illa ratio temperavit ac miscuit haec est quae etiam externa commendet, quorum avidis usus ingratus est.

#270

Aesop’s Fables

The Crow and the Pitcher

Aesop (traditional attribution) · Translator: V. S. Vernon Jones

English Complete story Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 270, “Aesop’s Fables · The Crow an……r · the-crow-and-the-pitcher,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

Try this: After a task, check whether it truly helped someone.

Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

The Aesopic corpus is a long, changing fable tradition, not a set of individually verifiable utterances by one sixth-century BCE author. Each complete item here is fixed to V. S. Vernon Jones’s 1912 English edition.

Period: Ancient Greek tradition; 1912 English edition
Region: Ancient Mediterranean / United Kingdom edition
Work date: Traditional material associated with the 6th century BCE; translation published 1912
Edition: Standard Ebooks edition of the 1912 V. S. Vernon Jones translation

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A thirsty Crow found a Pitcher with some water in it, but so little was there that, try as she might, she could not reach it with her beak, and it seemed as though she would die of thirst within sight of the remedy. At last she hit upon a clever plan. She began dropping pebbles into the Pitcher, and with each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it reached the brim, and the knowing bird was enabled to quench her thirst. Necessity is the mother of invention.

#271

Pensées

Pensées · Section VI · 380

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Governance

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 271, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section VI · fragment 380,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.

Try this: Observe first and guess second. Change your mind when clues change.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Pascal left these unfinished fragments amid seventeenth-century French scientific development, religious controversy, and illness, probably for a projected Christian apology. Modern grouping and numbering reflect Brunschvicg’s editorial decisions rather than a finished authorial order. Analysis distinguishes religious argument, mathematics, historical evidence, and personal experience.

Period: 17th-century France; early modern science and religious controversy
Region: France
Work date: Fragments written mainly c. 1657–1662; Brunschvicg edition published 1897–1925
Edition: Léon Brunschvicg edition, Section VI

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Toutes les bonnes maximes sont dans le monde ; on ne manque qu’à les appliquer. Par exemple, on ne doute pas qu’il ne faille exposer sa vie pour défendre le bien public, et plusieurs le font ; mais pour la religion, point. Il est nécessaire qu’il y ait de l’inégalité parmi les hommes, cela est vrai ; mais cela étant accordé, voilà la porte ouverte, non seulement à la plus haute domination, mais à la plus haute tyrannie. Il est nécessaire de relâcher un peu l’esprit ; mais cela ouvre la porte aux plus grands débordements. Qu’on en marque les limites. Il n’y a point de bornes dans les choses : les lois y en veulent mettre, et l’esprit ne peut le souffrir.

#272

Pensées

Pensées · Section VII · 529

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Ethics

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 272, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section VII · fragment 529,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.

Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant today.

Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Pascal left these unfinished fragments amid seventeenth-century French scientific development, religious controversy, and illness, probably for a projected Christian apology. Modern grouping and numbering reflect Brunschvicg’s editorial decisions rather than a finished authorial order. Analysis distinguishes religious argument, mathematics, historical evidence, and personal experience.

Period: 17th-century France; early modern science and religious controversy
Region: France
Work date: Fragments written mainly c. 1657–1662; Brunschvicg edition published 1897–1925
Edition: Léon Brunschvicg edition, Section VII

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… Non pas un abaissement qui nous rende incapables de bien, ni une sainteté exempte du mal.

#273

Pensées

Pensées · Section X · 663

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Desire and restraint

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 273, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……3 · Section X · fragment 663,” can mean this: It is fine to want something, but do not take it by force or hurt others.

Try this: Observe first and guess second. Change your mind when clues change.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Pascal left these unfinished fragments amid seventeenth-century French scientific development, religious controversy, and illness, probably for a projected Christian apology. Modern grouping and numbering reflect Brunschvicg’s editorial decisions rather than a finished authorial order. Analysis distinguishes religious argument, mathematics, historical evidence, and personal experience.

Period: 17th-century France; early modern science and religious controversy
Region: France
Work date: Fragments written mainly c. 1657–1662; Brunschvicg edition published 1897–1925
Edition: Léon Brunschvicg edition, Section X

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Figuratif. — Rien n’est ni semblable à la charité que la cupidité, et rien n’y est si contraire. Ainsi les Juifs, pleins des biens qui flattaient leur cupidité, étaient très conformes aux Chrétiens, et très contraires ; et par ce moyen, ils avaient les deux qualités qu’il fallait qu’ils eussent, d’être très conformes au Messie pour le figurer, et très contraires pour n’être pas témoins suspects.

#274

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §23

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Relationships

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 274, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §23,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.

Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber VIII

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[23] Quid adversus hos pro nobis responderi soleat ponam; deinde tunc adiciam quid praeterea respondendum putem. Alia condicio est in iis quae ablata in locum suum aliquid incommodi substituunt: tamquam bona valetudo vitiata in malam transfert; acies oculorum exstincta caecitate nos afficit; non tantum velocitas perit poplitibus incisis, sed debilitas pro illa subit. Hoc non est periculum in iis quae paulo ante rettulimus. Quare? si amicum bonum amisi, non est mihi pro illo perfidia patienda, nec si bonos liberos extuli, in illorum locum impietas succedit.

#275

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §23

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Desire and restraint

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 275, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §23,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.

Try this: Observe first and guess second. Change your mind when clues change.

Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber VIII

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[23] Quid miraris si uri, vulnerari, occidi, alligari iuvat, aliquando etiam libet? Luxurioso frugalitas poena est, pigro supplicii loco labor est, delicatus miseretur industrii, desidioso studere torqueri est: eodem modo haec ad quae omnes imbecilli sumus dura atque intoleranda credimus, obliti quam multis tormentum sit vino carere aut prima luce excitari. Non ista difficilia sunt natura, sed nos fluvidi et enerves.

#276

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · CVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §21

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Judgment and evidence

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 276, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §21,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.

Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.

Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber XVII – XVIII

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[21] Itaque iudicium quidem tuum sustine, ceterum omnia tibi in integro serva. Si vera suntista, abstinuisse animalibus innocentia est; si falsa, frugalitas est. Quod istic credulitatis tuae damnum est? alimenta tibi leonum et vulturum eripio.'

#277

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Power and justice

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 277, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.

Try this: Observe first and guess second. Change your mind when clues change.

Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber IX

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[3] Illud maxime revolvo mecum: si corpus perduci exercitatione ad hanc patientiam potest qua et pugnos pariter et calces non unius hominis ferat, qua solem ardentissimum in ferventissimo pulvere sustinens aliquis et sanguine suo madens diem ducat, quanto facilius animus conroborari possit ut fortunae ictus invictus excipiat, ut proiectus, ut conculcatus exsurgat. Corpus enim multis eget rebus ut valeat: animus ex se crescit, se ipse alit, se exercet. Illis multo cibo, multa potione opus est, multo oleo, longa denique opera: tibi continget virtus sine apparatu, sine inpensa. Quidquid facere te potest bonum tecum est.

#278

Dhammapada

Dhammapada · XVII:225

Anonymous Pali Buddhist anthology · Translator: Friedrich Max Müller

English Complete verse Power and justice

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 278, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XV……mapada · XVII:225 · XVII:225,” can mean this: When someone is hurt, listen and help repair the harm.

Try this: Today, listen until another person finishes, then answer.

Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

The Dhammapada is an anthology of Pali Buddhist verses shaped by long transmission and compilation, so a verifiable occasion cannot be assigned to each verse. This source uses Max Müller’s 1881 translation and keeps its nineteenth-century philological vocabulary visible.

Period: Ancient Indian Buddhist tradition; 1881 English translation
Region: South Asia / United Kingdom edition
Work date: Ancient compilation of uncertain date; translation published 1881
Edition: Dhammapada, translated by F. Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. X

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The sages who injure nobody, and who always control their body, they will go to the unchangeable place (Nirvana), where, if they have gone, they will suffer no more.

#279

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · XCV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §9

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 279, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §9,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

Try this: Observe first and guess second. Change your mind when clues change.

Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber XIV – XV

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[9] Quod dico tale est. Grammaticus non erubescet soloecismo si sciens fecit, erubescet si nesciens; medicus si deficere aegrum non intellegit, quantum ad artem magis peccat quam si se intellegere dissimulat: at in hac arte vivendi turpior volentium culpa est. Adice nunc quod artes quoque pleraeque — immo ex omnibus liberalissimae — habent decreta sua, non tantum praecepta, sicut medicina; itaque alia est Hippocratis secta, alia Asclepiadis, alia Themisonis.

#280

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXVI. §49

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 280, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu…… §49 · Liber VII · LXVI. §49,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant today.

Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber VII

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[49] Permitte mihi, Lucili virorum optime, aliquid audacius dicere: si ulla bona maiora esse aliis possent, haec ego quae tristia videntur mollibus illis et delicatis praetulissem, haec maiora dixissem. Maius est enim difficilia perfringere quam laeta moderari.

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