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.
Pensées
Pensées · Section XI · 702
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 441, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section XI · fragment 702,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
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
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 XI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Zèle du peuple juif pour sa loi, et principalement depuis qu’il n’y a plus eu de prophètes.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 442, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6,” can mean this: Think before speaking, and do not call a guess a fact.
Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”
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 II
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[6] Neque ego te iubeo semper imminere libro aut pugillaribus: dandum est aliquod intervallum animo, ita tamen ut non resolvatur, sed remittatur. Gestatio et corpus concutit et studio non officit: possis legere, possis dictare, possis loqui, possis audire, quorum nihil ne ambulatio quidem vetat fieri.
Aesop’s Fables
The Image-Seller
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 443, “Aesop’s Fables · The Image-S……ge-Seller · the-image-seller,” 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
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
Check the complete text with an adult
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A certain man made a wooden Image of Mercury, and exposed it for sale in the market. As no one offered to buy it, however, he thought he would try to attract a purchaser by proclaiming the virtues of the Image. So he cried up and down the market, “A god for sale! a god for sale! One who’ll bring you luck and keep you lucky!” Presently one of the bystanders stopped him and said, “If your god is all you make him out to be, how is it you don’t keep him and make the most of him yourself?” “I’ll tell you why,” replied he; “he brings gain, it is true, but he takes his time about it; whereas I want money at once.”
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §40
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 444, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §40,” can mean this: People who make rules should listen to questions.
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 XI – XIII
Check the complete text with an adult
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[40] Tu illum premi putas malis? utitur. Non ex ebore tantum Phidias sciebat facere simulacra; faciebat ex aere. Si marmor illi, si adhuc viliorem materiam obtulisses, fecisset quale ex illa fieri optimum posset. Sic sapiens virtutem, si licebit, in divitiis explicabit, si minus, in paupertate; si poterit, in patria, si minus, in exilio; si poterit, imperator, si minus, miles; si poterit, integer, si minus, debilis. Quamcumque fortunam acceperit, aliquid ex illa memorabile efficiet.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · VIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 445, “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: 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
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
[3] Rectum iter, quod sero cognovi et lassus errando, aliis monstro. Clamo: 'vitate quaecumque vulgo placent, quae casus attribuit; ad omne fortuitum bonum suspiciosi pavidique subsistite: et fera et piscis spe aliqua oblectante decipitur. Munera ista fortunae putatis? insidiae sunt. Quisquis vestrum tutam agere vitam volet, quantum plurimum potest ista viscata beneficia devitet in quibus hoc quoque miserrimi fallimur: habere nos putamus, haeremus.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 446, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.
Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”
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
[1] Quod maximum vinculum est ad bonam mentem, promisisti virum bonum, sacramento rogatus es. Deridebit te, si quis tibi dixerit mollem esse militiam et facilem. Nolo te decipi. Eadem honestissimi huius et illius turpissimi auctoramenti verba sunt: 'uri, vinciri ferroque necari'.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §16
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 447, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §16,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
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 III
Check the complete text with an adult
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[16] Quod facere te moneo scio certe fecisse: nunc admoneo ut animum tuum non mergas in istam sollicitudinem; hebetabitur enim et minus habebit vigoris cum exsurgendum erit. Abduc illum a privata causa ad publicam; dic mortale tibi et fragile corpusculum esse, cui non ex iniuria tantum aut ex potentioribus viribus denuntiabitur dolor: ipsae voluptates in tormenta vertuntur, epulae cruditatem afferunt, ebrietates nervorum torporem tremoremque, libidines pedum, manuum, articulorum omnium depravationes.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XCIX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §32
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 448, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §32,” 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: 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 XVI
Check the complete text with an adult
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[32] 'Haec tibi scripsi, non tamquam expectaturus esses remedium a me tam serum (liquet enim mihi te locutum tecum quidquid lecturus es) sed ut castigarem exiguam illam moram qua a te recessisti, et in reliquum adhortarer contra fortunam tolleres animos et omnia eius tela non tamquam possent venire sed tamquam utique essent ventura prospiceres. Vale.'
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXXI. SENECA LVCILIO SVO SALVTEM §7
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 449, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LVCILIO SVO SALVTEM §7,” can mean this: Real effort makes something better. It is not only looking busy.
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 IV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[7] 'Quid ergo?' inquis 'labor frivolus et supervacuus et quem humiles causae evocaverunt non est malus?' Non magis quam ille qui pulchris rebus impenditur, quoniam animi est ipsa tolerantia quae se ad dura et aspera hortatur ac dicit, 'quid cessas? non est viri timere sudorem'.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §17
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 450, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §17,” can mean this: Wanting more is normal, and we can also learn what is enough.
Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.
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 II
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[17] Nunc ad cotidianam stipem manum porrigis. Aurea te stipe implebo, et quia facta est auri mentio, accipe quemadmodum usus fructusque eius tibi esse gratior possit. 'Is maxime divitiis fruitur qui minime divitiis indiget.' 'Ede' inquis 'auctorem.' Ut scias quam benigni simus, propositum est aliena laudare: Epicuri est aut Metrodori aut alicuius ex illa officina.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXIII. §16
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 451, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……§16 · Liber VII · LXIII. §16,” can mean this: New learning becomes stronger when we practise it again.
Try this: If something is hard today, say, “Please help me.”
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[16] Cogitemus ergo, Lucili carissime, cito nos eo perventuros quo illum pervenisse maeremus; et fortasse, si modo vera sapientium fama est recipitque nos locus aliquis, quem putamus perisse praemissus est. Vale.
Pensées
Pensées · Section X · 670
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 452, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……0 · Section X · fragment 670,” can mean this: When angry, pause first. Let your body settle, then explain why.
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 X
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Figures. — Les Juifs avaient vieilli dans ces pensées terrestres, que Dieu aimait leur père Abraham, sa chair et ce qui en sortait ; que pour cela il les avait multipliés et distingués de tous les autres peuples, sans souffrir qu’ils s’y mêlassent ; que, quand ils languissaient dans l’Égypte, il les en retira avec tous ses grands signes en leur faveur ; qu’il les nourrit de la manne dans le désert ; qu’il les mena dans une terre bien grasse ; qu’il leur donna des rois et un temple bien bâti pour y offrir des bêtes, et par le moyen de l’effusion de leur sang qu’ils seraient purifiés, et qu’il leur devait enfin envoyer le Messie pour les rendre maîtres de tout le monde, et il a prédit le temps de sa venue. Le monde ayant vieilli dans ses erreurs charnelles, Jésus-Christ est venu dans le temps prédit, mais non pas dans l’éclat attendu ; et ainsi ils n’ont pas pensé que ce fût lui. Après sa mort, saint Paul est venu apprendre aux hommes que toutes ces choses étaient arrivées en figure, que le royaume de Dieu ne consistait pas en la chair, mais en l’esprit ; que les ennemis des hommes n’étaient pas les Babyloniens, mais les passions ; que Dieu ne se plaisait pas aux temples faits de main, mais en un cœur pur et humilié ; que la circoncision du corps était inutile, mais qu’il fallait celle du cœur ; que Moïse ne leur avait pas donné le pain du ciel, etc. Mais Dieu n’ayant pas voulu découvrir ces choses à ce peuple, qui en était indigne, et ayant voulu néanmoins les prédire afin qu’elles fussent crues, il en a prédit le temps clairement, et les a quelquefois exprimées clairement, mais abondamment, en figures, afin que ceux qui aimaient les choses figurantes s’y arrêtassent, et que ceux qui aimaient les figurées les y vissent. Tout ce qui ne va point à la charité est figure. L’unique objet de l’Écriture est la charité. Tout ce qui ne va point à l’unique but en est la figure ; car, puisqu’il n’y a qu’un but, tout ce qui n’y va point en mots propres est figuré. Dieu diversifie ainsi cet unique précepte de charité, pour satisfaire notre curiosité qui recherche la diversité, par cette diversité qui nous mène toujours à notre unique nécessaire ; car une seule chose est nécessaire, et nous aimons la diversité ; et Dieu satisfait à l’un et à l’autre par ces diversités, qui mènent au seul nécessaire. Les Juifs ont tant aimé les choses figurantes et les ont si bien attendues, qu’ils ont méconnu la réalité, quand elle est venue dans le temps et en la manière prédite. Les Rabbins prennent pour figures les mamelles de l’épouse, et tout ce qui n’exprime pas l’unique but qu’ils ont, des biens temporels. Et les chrétiens prennent même l’Eucharistie pour figure de la gloire où ils tendent.
Pensées
Pensées · Section V · 328
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 453, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……8 · Section V · fragment 328,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
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
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Raison des effets. — Renversement continuel du pour au contre. Nous avons donc montré que l’homme est vain, par l’estime qu’il fait des choses qui ne sont point essentielles ; et toutes ces opinions sont détruites. Nous avons montré ensuite que toutes ces opinions sont très saines, et qu’ainsi, toutes ces vanités étant très bien fondées, le peuple n’est pas si vain qu’on dit ; et ainsi nous avons détruit l’opinion qui détruisait celle du peuple. Mais il faut détruire maintenant cette dernière proposition, et montrer qu’il demeure toujours vrai que le peuple est vain, quoique ses opinions soient saines : parce qu’il n’en sent pas la vérité où elle est, et que, la mettant où elle n’est pas, ses opinions sont toujours très fausses et très mal saines.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 454, “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: 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 XI – XIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[22] Dicam quid sit ex quo veniat hic error: nesciunt beatam vitam unam esse. In optimo illam statu ponit qualitas sua, non magnitudo; itaque in aequo est longa et brevis, diffusa et angustior, in multa loca multasque partes distributa et in unum coacta. Qui illam numero aestimat et mensura et partibus, id illi quod habet eximium eripit. Quid autem est in beata vita eximium? quod plena est.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 455, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6,” can mean this: When someone is hurt, listen and help repair the harm.
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 III
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[6] Fac, oro te, Lucili carissime, quod unum potest praestare felicem: dissice et conculca ista quae extrinsecus splendent, quae tibi promittuntur ab alio vel ex alio; ad verum bonum specta et de tuo gaude. Quid est autem hoc 'de tuo'? te ipso et tui optima parte. Corpusculum quoque etiam si nihil fieri sine illo potest, magis necessariam rem crede quam magnam; vanas suggerit voluptates, breves, paenitendas ac, nisi magna moderatione, temperentur, in contrarium abituras. Ita dico: In praecipiti voluptas <stat>, ad dolorem vergit, nisi modum tenuit; modum autem tenere in eo difficile est, quod bonu esse credideris: veri boni aviditas tuta est.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XXII:314
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 456, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XX……mapada · XXII:314 · XXII:314,” can mean this: Knowing what is right matters, and doing it matters too.
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
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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An evil deed is better left undone, for a man repents of it afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it, one does not repent.
論語
憲問第十四 · 十四之三十
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 457, “論語 · 憲問第十四 · 十四之三十 · 十四之三十,” can mean this: People with power should explain their reasons and allow questions.
Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”
Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
Confucius lived amid political fragmentation and changing ritual order in the late Spring and Autumn period. The Analects was compiled over time by disciples and later circles, not recorded as a verbatim transcript. This item is fixed to a specific Wikisource revision.
- Period
- 春秋末至战国编集 / late Spring and Autumn to Warring States compilation
- Region
- 中国 / China
- Work date
- 约公元前5—3世纪逐步编集
- Edition
- 中文维基文库《論語》憲問第十四
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子曰：「君子道者三，我無能焉：仁者不憂，知者不惑，勇者不懼。」子貢曰：「夫子自道也！」
Pensées
Pensées · Section XIV · 904
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 458, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XIV · fragment 904,” 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: Do not judge a person from one sentence. Check what happened and think with 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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Ils font de l’exception la règle. Les anciens ont donné l’absolution avant la pénitence — faites-le en esprit d’exception. Mais, de l’exception, vous faites une règle sans exception, en sorte que vous ne voulez plus même que la règle soit en exception.
論語
季氏第十六 · 十六之十四
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 459, “論語 · 季氏第十六 · 十六之十四 · 十六之十四,” can mean this: People with power should explain their reasons and allow questions.
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
Confucius lived amid political fragmentation and changing ritual order in the late Spring and Autumn period. The Analects was compiled over time by disciples and later circles, not recorded as a verbatim transcript. This item is fixed to a specific Wikisource revision.
- Period
- 春秋末至战国编集 / late Spring and Autumn to Warring States compilation
- Region
- 中国 / China
- Work date
- 约公元前5—3世纪逐步编集
- Edition
- 中文维基文库《論語》季氏第十六
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邦君之妻，君稱之曰「夫人」，夫人自稱曰「小童」；邦人稱之曰「君夫人」，稱諸異邦曰「寡小君」；異邦人稱之，亦曰「君夫人」。
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §36
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 460, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §36,” can mean this: Knowing what is right matters, and doing it matters too.
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 XI – XIII
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[36] 'Hac' inquit 'ratione ne commoda quidem ista erunt.' Alia est commodorum condicio, alia bonorum: commodum est quod plus usus habet quam molestiae; bonum sincerum esse debet et ab omni parte innoxium. Non est id bonum quod plus prodest, sed quod tantum prodest.