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 §32
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 121, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §32,” 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: 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
[32] Non tam benignum ac liberale tempus natura nobis dedit ut aliquid ex illo vacet perdere. Et vide quam multa etiam diligentissimis pereant: aliud valetudo sua cuique abstulit, aliud suorum; aliud necessaria negotia, aliud publica occupaverunt; vitam nobiscum dividit somnus. Ex hoc tempore tam angusto et rapido et nos auferente quid iuvat maiorem partem mittere in vanum?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXVI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §18
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 122, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §18,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.
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 XI – XIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[18] Negat quicquam esse hac, ut ait, pisatione efficacius. Videlicet frigus excludit et ventum; minus praeterea movetur et ob hoc nascentes radices prodire patitur ac solum adprendere, quas necesse est cereas adhuc et precario haerentes levis quoque revellat agitatio. Rapum autem arboris antequam obruat radit; ex omni enim materia quae nudata est, ut ait, radices exeunt novae. Non plures autem super terram eminere debet truncus quam tres aut quattuor pedes; statim enim ab imo vestietur nec magna pars eius quemadmodum in olivetis veteribus arida et retorrida erit.
論語
八佾第三 · 三之十七
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 123, “論語 · 八佾第三 · 三之十七 · 三之十七,” can mean this: It is fine to want something, but do not take it by force or hurt others.
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
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》八佾第三
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子貢欲去吿朔之餼羊。子曰：「賜也！爾愛其羊，我愛其禮。」
Pensées
Pensées · Section VII · 467
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 124, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section VII · fragment 467,” can mean this: Fairness is not always giving everyone the same thing. It means taking each person seriously.
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
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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Raison des effets. — Épictète. Ceux qui disent : Vous avez mal à la tête… ; ce n’est pas de même. On est assuré de la santé et non pas de la justice ; et en effet la sienne était une niaiserie. Et cependant il la croyait démonstrative en disant : « Ou en noire puissance ou non. » Mais il ne s’apercevait pas qu’il n’est pas en notre pouvoir de régler le cœur, et il avait tort de le conclure de ce qu’il y avait des chrétiens.
Pensées
Pensées · Section XII · 765
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 125, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XII · fragment 765,” 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: 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 XII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Source des contrariétés. — Un Dieu humilié, et jusqu’à la mort de la croix ; un Messie triomphant de la mort par sa mort. Deux natures en Jésus-Christ, deux avènements, deux états de la nature de l’homme.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §30
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 126, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §30,” 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 XVII – XVIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[30] Nemo mutatum Catonem totiensmutata re publica vidit; eundem se in omni statu praestitit, in praetura,in repulsa, in accusatione, in provincia, in contione, in exercitu, inmorte. Denique in illa rei publicae trepidatione, cum illinc Caesar essetdecem legionibus pugnacissimis subnixus, totis exterarum gentium praesidiis,hinc Cn. Pompeius, satis unus adversus omnia, cum alii ad Caesarem inclinarent,alii ad Pompeium, solus Cato fecit aliquas et rei publicae partes.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §27
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 127, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §27,” can mean this: Real effort makes something better. It is not only looking busy.
Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.
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
[27] Si tamen exemplum desideratis, accipite Socraten, perpessiciumsenem, per omnia aspera iactatum, invictum tamen et paupertate, quam gravioremilli domestica onera faciebant, et laboribus, quos militares quoque pertulit.Quibus ille domi exercitus, sive uxorem eius moribus feram, lingua petulantem,sive liberos indociles et matri quam patri similiores +sivere+ aut in bellofuit aut in tyrannide aut in libertate bellis ac tyrannis saeviore.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 128, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.
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
[3] Hoc unum plane tibi adprobare vellem, omnia me illa sentire quae dicerem, nec tantum sentire sed amare. Aliter homines amicam, aliter liberos osculantur; tamen in hoc quoque amplexu tam sancto et moderato satis apparet adfectus. Non mehercules ieiuna esse et arida volo quae de rebus tam magnis dicentur (neque enim philosophia ingenio renuntiat), multum tamen operae inpendi verbis non oportet.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XCVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 129, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.
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
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[15] Illic dissentiamus cum Epicuro ubi dicit nihil iustum esse natura et crimina vitanda esse quia vitari metus non posse: hic consentiamus, mala facinora conscientia flagellari et plurimum illi tormentorum esse eo quod perpetua illam sollicitudo urget ac verberat, quod sponsoribus securitatis suae non potest credere. Hoc enim ipsum argumentum est, Epicure, natura nos a scelere abhorrere, quod nulli non etiam inter tuta timor est.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 130, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.
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 XVII – XVIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[15] Praeterea aliud est laus,aliud laudatio, haec et vocem exigit; itaque nemo dicit laudem funebremsed laudationem, cuius officium oratione constat. Cum dicimus aliquem laudedignum, non verba illi benigna hominum sed iudicia promittimus. Ergo lausetiam taciti est bene sentientis ac bonum virum apud se laudantis.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 131, “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: 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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[22] 'Nihil agitis' inquit 'quod negatis ullum esse aliud honesto bonum. non faciet vos haec munitio tutos a fortuna et immunes. Dicitis enim inter bona esse liberos pios et bene moratam patriam et parentes bonos. Horum pericula non potestis spectare securi: perturbabit vos obsidio patriae, liberorum mors, parentum servitus.'
論語
八佾第三 · 三之七
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 132, “論語 · 八佾第三 · 三之七 · 三之七,” can mean this: People with power should explain their reasons and allow questions.
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》八佾第三
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子曰：「君子無所爭，必也射乎！揖讓而升，下而飮，其爭也君子。」
Meditations
Meditations · Book 9, passage 11
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 133, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 9, passage 11 · book-9-p-11,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
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
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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If thou art able, correct by teaching those who do wrong; but if thou canst not, remember that indulgence is given to thee for this purpose. And the gods, too, are indulgent to such persons; and for some purposes they even help them to get health, wealth, reputation; so kind they are. And it is in thy power also; or say, who hinders thee?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 134, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12,” 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: 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
[12] Quod miserrimum erat si incidisset optatur, et tamquam vita petitursupplici mora. Contemptissimum putarem si vivere vellet usque ad crucem:'tu vero' inquit 'me debilites licet, dum spiritus in corpore fracto etinutili maneat; depraves licet, dum monstroso et distorto temporis aliquidaccedat; suffigas licet et acutam sessuro crucem subdas': est tanti vulnussuum premere et patibulo pendere districtum, dum differat id quod est inmalis optimum, supplici finem? est tanti habere animam ut agam?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 135, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.
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 IX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[6] Amicus noster Stoicus, homo egregius et, ut verbis illum quibus laudari dignus est laudem, vir fortis ac strenuus, videtur mihi optime illum cohortatus. Sic enim coepit: 'noli, mi Marcelline, torqueri tamquam de re magna deliberes. Non est res magna vivere: omnes servi tui vivunt, omnia animalia: magnum est honeste mori, prudenter, fortiter. Cogita quamdiu iam idem facias: cibus, somnus, libido — per hunc circulum curritur; mori velle non tantum prudens aut fortis aut miser, etiam fastidiosus potest.'
Pensées
Pensées · Section XIII · 846
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 136, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section XIII · fragment 846,” 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 XIII
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« Première objection : Ange du ciel. Il ne faut pas juger de la vérité par les miracles, mais des miracles par la vérité. Donc les miracles sont inutiles. » Or ils servent, et il ne faut point être contre la vérité, donc ce qu’a dit le P. Lingendes que Dieu ne permettra pas qu’un miracle puisse induire à erreur… Lorsqu’il y aura contestation dans la même Église, le miracle décidera. Deuxième objection : Mais l’Antechrist fera des signes. Les magiciens de Pharao ne séduisaient point à erreur. Ainsi on ne pourra point dire à Jésus-Christ sur l’Antechrist : Vous m’avez séduit à erreur. — Car l’Antechrist les fera contre Jésus-Christ et ainsi ils ne peuvent induire à erreur. Ou Dieu ne permettra point de faux miracles, ou il en procurera de plus grands. [Depuis le commencement du monde Jésus-Christ subsiste : cela est plus fort que tous les miracles de l’Antechrist]. Si dans la même Église il arrivait miracle du côté des errants, on serait induit à erreur. Le schisme est visible, le miracle est visible. Mais le schisme est plus marque d’erreur que le miracle n’est marque de vérité : donc le miracle ne peut induire à erreur. Mais, hors le schisme, l’erreur n’est pas si visible que le miracle est visible, donc le miracle induirait à erreur. Ubi est Deus tuus ? Les miracles le montrent, et sont un éclair.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXVI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 137, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5,” 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 III
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[5] 'nihil est' inquam 'adhuc quod aut rebus aut verbis exhibuimus; levia sunt ista et fallacia pignora animi multisque involuta lenociniis: quid profecerim morti crediturus sum. Non timide itaque componor ad illum diem quo remotis strophis ac fucis de me iudicaturus sum, utrum loquar fortia an sentiam, numquid simulatio fuerit et mimus quidquid contra fortunam iactavi verborum contumacium.
Pensées
Pensées · Section III · 239
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 138, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section III · fragment 239,” 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: 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 III
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Objection. — Ceux qui espèrent leur salut sont heureux en cela, mais ils ont pour contrepoids la crainte de l’enfer. Réponse. — Qui a plus de sujet de craindre l’enfer, ou celui qui est dans l’ignorance s’il y a un enfer, et dans la certitude de damnation, s’il y en a ; ou celui qui est dans une certaine persuasion qu’il y a un enfer, et dans l’espérance d’être sauvé, s’il est ?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXIX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 139, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6,” can mean this: New learning becomes stronger when we practise it again.
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
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[6] Illud quasi constitit, aliquid inter philosophiam et sapientiam interesse; neque enim fieri potest ut idem sit quod adfectatur et quod adfectat. Quomodo multum inter avaritiam et pecuniam interest, cum illa cupiat, haec concupiscatur, sic inter philosophiam et sapientiam. Haec enim illius effectus ac praemium est; illa venit, ad hanc itur.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XXIV:353
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 140, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XX……mapada · XXIV:353 · XXIV:353,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
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
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
`I have conquered all, I know all, in all conditions of life I am free from taint; I have left all, and through the destruction of thirst I am free; having learnt myself, whom shall I teach?'