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 · XXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 101, “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 III
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[22] Video quo spectes: quaeris quid huic epistulae infulserim, quod dictum alicuius animosum, quod praeceptum utile. Ex hac ipsa materia quae in manibus fuit mittetur aliquid. Obiurgat Epicurus non minus eos qui mortem concupiscunt quam eos qui timent, et ait: 'ridiculum est currere ad mortem taedio vitae, cum genere vitae ut currendum ad mortem esset effeceris'.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XC. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §42
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 102, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §42,” can mean this: People, animals, plants, and the environment affect one another.
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 XIV – XV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[42] Non inpendebant caelata laquearia, sed in aperto iacentis sidera superlabebantur et, insigne spectaculum noctium, mundus in praeceps agebatur, silentio tantum opus ducens. Tam interdiu illis quam nocte patebant prospectus huius pulcherrimae domus; libebat intueri signa ex media caeli parte vergentia, rursus ex occulto alia surgentia.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §16
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 103, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §16,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.
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 XVII – XVIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[16] Deinde, ut dixi, ad animum refertur laus, non ad verba, quae conceptamlaudem egerunt et in notitiam plurium emittunt. Laudat qui laudandum esseiudicat. Cum tragicus ille apud nos ait magnificum esse 'laudari a laudatoviro', laude digno ait. Et cum aeque antiquus poeta ait 'laus alit artis',non laudationem dicit, quae corrumpit artes; nihil enim aeque et eloquentiamet omne aliud studium auribus deditum vitiavit quam popularis adsensio.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 12, passage 23
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 104, “Meditations · Meditations · ……2, passage 23 · book-12-p-23,” 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: 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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Consider that before long thou wilt be nobody and nowhere, nor will any of the things exist which thou now seest, nor any of those who are now living. For all things are formed by nature to change and be turned and to perish in order that other things in continuous succession may exist.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 10, passage 15
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 105, “Meditations · Meditations · ……0, passage 15 · book-10-p-15,” can mean this: People who make rules should listen to questions.
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
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Thou hast not forgotten, I suppose, that those who assume arrogant airs in bestowing their praise or blame on others, are such as they are at bed and at board, and thou hast not forgotten what they do, and what they avoid and what they pursue, and how they steal and how they rob, not with hands and feet, but with their most valuable part, by means of which there is produced, when a man chooses, fidelity, modesty, truth, law, a good daemon [happiness]?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXIX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 106, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” 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: 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 IX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[1] Expecto epistulas tuas quibus mihi indices circuitus Siciliae totius quid tibi novi ostenderit, et omnia de ipsa Charybdi certiora. Nam Scyllam saxum esse et quidem non terribile navigantibus optime scio: Charybdis an respondeat fabulis perscribi mihi desidero et, si forte observaveris (dignum est autem quod observes), fac nos certiores utrum uno tantum vento agatur in vertices an omnis tempestas aeque mare illud contorqueat, et an verum sit quidquid illo freti turbine abreptum est per multa milia trahi conditum et circa Tauromenitanum litus emergere.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXXIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 107, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” can mean this: People with power should explain their reasons and allow 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 IV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[1] Desideras his quoque epistulis sicut prioribus adscribi aliquas voces nostrorum procerum. Non fuerunt circa flosculos occupati: totus contextus illorum virilis est. Inaequalitatem scias esse ubi quae eminent notabilia sunt: non est admirationi una arbor ubi in eandem altitudinem tota silva surrexit.
Pensées
Pensées · Section VII · 461
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 108, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section VII · fragment 461,” 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: 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 VII
Check the complete text with an adult
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Les trois concupiscences ont fait trois sectes, et les philosophes n’ont fait autre chose que suivre une des trois concupiscences.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XXV:394
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 109, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XXV:394 · XXV:394,” 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: 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
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
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What is the use of platted hair, O fool! what of the raiment of goat-skins? Within thee there is ravening, but the outside thou makest clean.
Pensées
Pensées · Section II-2 · 105
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 110, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section II-2 · fragment 105,” 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: 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 II-2
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Qu’il est difficile de proposer une chose au jugement d’un autre, sans corrompre son jugement par la manière de la lui proposer ! Si on dit : Je le trouve beau ; je le trouve obscur, ou autre chose semblable, on entraîne l’imagination à ce jugement, ou on l’irrite au contraire. Il vaut mieux ne rien dire ; et alors il juge selon ce qu’il est, c’est-à-dire selon ce qu’il est alors, et selon que les autres circonstances dont on n’est pas auteur y auront mis. Mais au moins on n’y aura rien mis ; si ce n’est que ce silence n’y fasse aussi son effet, selon le tour et l’interprétation qu’il sera en humeur de lui donner, ou selon qu’il le conjecturera des mouvements et air du visage, ou du ton de voix, selon qu’il sera physionomiste : tant il est difficile de ne point démonter un jugement de son assiette naturelle, ou plutôt, tant il en a peu de ferme et stable !
Pensées
Pensées · Section II-2 · 134
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 111, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section II-2 · fragment 134,” 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 II-2
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Quelle vanité que la peinture, qui attire l’admiration par la ressemblance des choses dont on n’admire point les originaux !
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 112, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12,” 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
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
[12] Sic vivamus, sic loquamur; paratos nos inveniat atque inpigros fatum.Hic est magnus animus qui se ei tradidit: at contra ille pusillus et degenerqui obluctatur et de ordine mundi male existimat et emendare mavult deosquam se. Vale.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 113, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5,” can mean this: A first feeling may not be the whole truth. Pause and think 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 II
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[5] Ceterum adeo mihi placet temptare animi tui firmitatem ut e praecepto magnorum virorum tibi quoque praecipiam: interponas aliquot dies quibus contentus minimo ac vilissimo cibo, dura atque horrida veste, dicas tibi 'hoc est quod timebatur?'
Meditations
Meditations · Book 4, passage 4
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 114, “Meditations · Meditations · ……ok 4, passage 4 · book-4-p-4,” 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: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.
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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy own, and above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XXV:368
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 115, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XXV:368 · XXV:368,” can mean this: It is fine to want something, but do not take it by force or hurt others.
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
The Bhikshu who acts with kindness, who is calm in the doctrine of Buddha, will reach the quiet place (Nirvana), cessation of natural desires, and happiness.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 116, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5,” 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: 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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[5] Sed ne ad aliud quam de quo agitur abducar, nos quoquehas apes debemus imitari et quaecumque ex diversa lectione congessimus separare (melius enim distincta servantur), deinde adhibita ingenii nostri cura et facultate in unum saporem varia illa libamenta confundere, ut etiam si apparuerit unde sumptum sit, aliud tamen esse quam unde sumptum est appareat. Quod in corpore nostro videmus sine ulla opera nostra facere naturam
Pensées
Pensées · Section XI · 710
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 117, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section XI · fragment 710,” 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: 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 XI
Check the complete text with an adult
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Prophéties. — Quand un seul homme aurait fait un livre des prédictions de Jésus-Christ, pour le temps et pour la manière, et que Jésus-Christ serait venu conformément à ces prophéties, ce serait une force infinie. Mais il y a bien plus ici, c’est une suite d’hommes, durant quatre mille ans, qui, constamment et sans variation, viennent, l’un ensuite de l’autre, prédire ce même avènement. C’est un peuple tout entier qui l’annonce, et qui subsiste depuis quatre mille années, pour rendre en corps témoignage des assurances qu’ils en ont, et dont ils ne peuvent être divertis par quelques menaces et persécutions qu’on leur fasse : ceci est tout autrement considérable.
Aesop’s Fables
The Sick Man and the Doctor
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 118, “Aesop’s Fables · The Sick Ma…… the-sick-man-and-the-doctor,” 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: 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 Sick Man received a visit from his Doctor, who asked him how he was. “Fairly well, Doctor,” said he, “but I find I sweat a great deal.” “Ah,” said the Doctor, “that’s a good sign.” On his next visit he asked the same question, and his patient replied, “I’m much as usual, but I’ve taken to having shivering fits, which leave me cold all over.” “Ah,” said the Doctor, “that’s a good sign too.” When he came the third time and inquired as before about his patient’s health, the Sick Man said that he felt very feverish. “A very good sign,” said the Doctor; “you are doing very nicely indeed.” Afterwards a friend came to see the invalid, and on asking him how he did, received this reply: “My dear friend, I’m dying of good signs.”
論語
憲問第十四 · 十四之四一
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 119, “論語 · 憲問第十四 · 十四之四一 · 十四之四一,” 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: 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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子路宿於石門。晨門曰：「奚自？」子路曰：「自孔氏。」曰：「是知其不可而爲之者與？」
Pensées
Pensées · Section V · 336
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 120, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……6 · Section V · fragment 336,” 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: 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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Raison des effets. — Il faut avoir une pensée de derrière, et juger de tout par là, en parlant cependant comme le peuple.