SPACEDK · DAILY CLASSICS · 07:00 CST
The Daily Classics Library
At 7:00 every morning in Beijing, 500 complete sayings, verses, reflections, or stories are selected from edition- and rights-verified books, then read again in historical and contemporary context.
Verification rule: Unsourced internet quotations are excluded. Every item records its work, authorship or traditional attribution, translator, locator, source revision, and rights status. “Complete” means a self-contained saying, verse, reflection, or story—not copying an entire protected modern book.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §4
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 21, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §4,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
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 XIX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[4] Adversus hos quid ab aliis respondeatur audi, antequam ego incipio secedere et in alia parte considere. 'Isto modo' inquiunt 'nec beate vivere bonum est. Velint nolint, respondendum est beatam vitam bonum esse, beate vivere bonum non esse.'
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · VIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §2
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 22, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §2,” 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: 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 I
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[2] Secessi non tantum ab hominibus sed a rebus, et in primis a meis rebus: posterorum negotium ago. Illis aliqua quae possint prodesse conscribo; salutares admonitiones,velut medicamentorum utilium compositiones, litteris mando, esse illas efficaces in meis ulceribus expertus, quae etiam si persanata non sunt, serpere desierunt.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XCV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §47
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 23, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §47,” can mean this: Working together means sharing help and responsibility.
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[47] Quomodo sint dii colendi solet praecipi. Accendere aliquem lucernas sabbatis prohibeamus, quoniam nec lumine dii egent et ne homines quidem delectantur fuligine. Vetemus salutationibus matutinis fungi et foribus adsidere templorum: humana ambitio istis officiis capitur, deum colit qui novit. Vetemus lintea et strigiles Iovi ferre et speculum tenere Iunoni: non quaerit ministros deus. Quidni? ipse humano generi ministrat, ubique et omnibus praesto est.
Pensées
Pensées · Section XII · 743
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 24, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XII · fragment 743,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned 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
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Preuves de Jésus-Christ. Pourquoi le livre de Ruth conservé ? Pourquoi l’histoire de Thamar ?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §30
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 25, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §30,” can mean this: New learning becomes stronger when we practise it again.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.
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 VIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[30] Sapiens quidem vincit virtute fortunam, at multi professi sapientiam levissimis nonnumquam minis exterriti sunt. Hoc loco nostrum vitium est, qui idem a sapiente exigimus et a proficiente. Suadeo adhuc mihi ista quae laudo, nondum persuadeo; etiam si persuasissem, nondum tam parata haberem aut tam exercitata ut ad omnes casus procurrerent.
Pensées
Pensées · Section XII · 789
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 26, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XII · fragment 789,” 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: 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 XII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Comme Jésus-Christ est demeuré inconnu parmi les hommes, ainsi sa vérité demeure parmi les opinions communes, sans différence à l’extérieur ; ainsi l’Eucharistie parmi le pain commun.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXXIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 27, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”
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 IV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[3] Non est ergo quod exigas excerpta et repetita: continuum est apud nostros quidquid apud alios excerpitur. Non habemus itaque ista ocliferia nec emptorem decipimus nihil inventurum cum intraverit praeter illa quae in fronte suspensa sunt: ipsis permittimus unde velint sumere exemplar.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §24
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 28, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §24,” can mean this: Things change, so we can pause and choose carefully.
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
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[24] Multum autem ad rem pertinet quo proposito ad quamquam rem accedas. Qui grammaticus futurus Vergilium scrutatur non hoc animo legit illud egregium
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 29, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.
Try this: If something is hard today, say, “Please help me.”
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 II
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[5] Quaedam ergo nos magis torquent quam debent, quaedam ante torquent quam debent, quaedam torquent cum omnino non debeant; aut augemus dolorem aut praecipimus aut fingimus.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXXVI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §7
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 30, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §7,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
Try this: Today, listen until another person finishes, then answer.
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 IV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[7] Si in Parthia natus esset, arcum infans statim tenderet; si in Germania, protinus puer tenerum hastile vibraret; si avorum nostrorum temporibus fuisset, equitare et hostem comminus percutere didicisset. Haec singulis disciplina gentis suae suadet atque imperat.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XVII:224
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 31, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XV……mapada · XVII:224 · XVII:224,” can mean this: When angry, pause first. Let your body settle, then explain why.
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
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · X:129
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 32, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · X:129 · X:129,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 33, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
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 X
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[15] Est et horum, Lucili, quae appellamus media grande discrimen. Non enim sic mors indifferens est quomodo utrum capillos pares <an inpares> habeas: mors inter illa est quae mala quidem non sunt, tamen habent mali speciem: sui amor est et permanendi conservandique se insita voluntas atque aspernatio dissolutionis, * * * quia videtur multa nobis bona eripere et nos ex hac cui adsuevimus rerum copia educere. Illa quoque res morti nos alienat, quod haec iam novimus, illa ad quae transituri sumus nescimus qualia sint, et horremus ignota. Naturalis praeterea tenebrarum metus est, in quas adductura mors creditur.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CXVI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §2
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 34, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §2,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned 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 XIX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[2] 'Sed naturale est' inquis 'ut desiderio amici torquear: da ius lacrimis tam iuste cadentibus. Naturale est opinionibus hominum tangi et adversis contristari: quare mihi non permittas hunc tam honestum malae opinionis metum?' Nullum est vitium sine patrocinio; nulli non initium verecundum est et exorabile, sed ab hoc latius funditur. Non obtinebis ut desinat si incipere permiseris.
Pensées
Pensées · Section VII · 513
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 35, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section VII · fragment 513,” can mean this: When angry, pause first. Let your body settle, then explain why.
Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.
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 VII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Pourquoi Dieu a établi la prière. 1o Pour communiquer à ses créatures la dignité de la causalité. 2o Pour nous apprendre de qui nous tenons la vertu. 3o Pour nous faire mériter les autres vertus par travail. (Mais pour se conserver la prééminence, il donne la prière à qui il lui plaît.). Objection : Mais on croira qu’on tient la prière de soi. Cela est absurde ; car, puisque, ayant la foi, on ne peut pas avoir les vertus, comment aurait-on la foi ? y a-t-il pas plus de distance de l’infidélité à la foi que de la foi à la vertu ? Mérite, ce mot est ambigu. Meruit habere Redemptorem. Meruit tam sacra membra tangere. Digno tam sacra membra tangere. Non sum dignus. Qui mandicat indignas. Dignus est accipere. Dignare me. Dieu ne doit que suivant ses promesses. Il a promis d’accorder la justice aux prières, jamais il n’a promis les prières qu’aux enfants de la promesse. Saint Augustin a dit formellement que les forces seraient ôtées au juste. Mais c’est par hasard qu’il l’a dit ; car il pouvait arriver que l’occasion de le dire ne s’offrît pas. Mais ses principes font voir que, l’occasion s’en présentant, il était impossible qu’il ne le dît pas, ou qu’il dît rien de contraire. C’est donc plus d’être forcé à le dire, l’occasion s’en offrant, que de l’avoir dit, l’occasion s’étant offerte : l’un étant de nécessité, l’autre de hasard. Mais les deux sont tout ce qu’on peut demander.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XCII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 36, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant 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 XIV – XV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[22] Deinde trado tibi hominem nec miserum nec beatum. Huic adicio caecitatem: non fit miser; adicio debilitatem: non fit miser; adicio dolores continuos et graves: miser non fit. Quem tam multa mala in miseram vitam non transferunt ne ex beata quidem educunt.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §29
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 37, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §29,” can mean this: Fairness is not always giving everyone the same thing. It means taking each person seriously.
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
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[29] Aeque magna est, etiam si in se recessit undique exclusa; nihilominus enim magni spiritus est et erecti, exactae prudentiae, indeclinabilis iustitiae. Ergo aeque beata est; beatum enim illud uno loco positum est, in ipsa mente, stabile, grande, tranquillum, quod sine scientia divinorum humanorumque non potest effici.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CXIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §24
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 38, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §24,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.
Try this: If something is hard today, say, “Please help me.”
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 XIX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[24] 'Non sunt' inquit 'virtutes multa animalia, et tamen animalia sunt. Nam quemadmodum aliquis et poeta est et orator, et tamen unus, sic virtutes istae animalia sunt sed multa non sunt. Idem est animus et animus et iustus et prudens et fortis, ad singulas virtutes quodam modo se habens.'
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XCVI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §4
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 39, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §4,” can mean this: Things change, so we can pause and choose carefully.
Try this: After a task, check whether it truly helped someone.
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 XVI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[4] 'Sed volebam vivere, carere tamen incommodis omnibus.' Tam effeminata vox virum dedecet. Videris quemadmodum hoc votum meum excipias; ego illud magno animo, non tantum bono facio: neque di neque deae faciant ut te fortuna in delicis habeat.
Pensées
Pensées · Section V · 295
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 40, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……5 · Section V · fragment 295,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
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
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 V
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Mien, tien. Ce chien est à moi, disaient ces pauvres enfants ; c’est là ma place au soleil. — Voilà le commencement et l’image de l’usurpation de toute la terre.