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 · LXX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §20
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 301, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §20,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
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 VIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[20] Nuper in ludo bestiariorum unus e Germanis, cum ad matutina spectacula pararetur, secessit ad exonerandum corpus – nullum aliud illi dabatur sine custode secretum; ibi lignum id quod ad emundanda obscena adhaerente spongia positum est totum in gulam farsit et interclusis faucibus spiritum elisit. Hoc fuit morti contumeliam facere. Ita prorsus, parum munde et parum decenter: quid est stultius quam fastidiose mori?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §18
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 302, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §18,” 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 III
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[18] Non sum tam ineptus ut Epicuream cantilenam hoc loco persequar et dicam vanos esse inferorum metus, nec Ixionem rota volvi nec saxum umeris Sisyphi trudi in adversum nec ullius viscera et renasci posse cotidie et carpi: nemo tam puer est ut Cerberum timeat et tenebras et larvalem habitum nudis ossibus cohaerentium. Mors nos aut consumit aut exuit; emissis meliora restant onere detracto, consumptis nihil restat, bona pariter malaque summota sunt.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 11, passage 5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 303, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 11, passage 5 · book-11-p-5,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.
Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
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
What is thy art? To be good. And how is this accomplished well except by general principles, some about the nature of the universe, and others about the proper constitution of man?
Pensées
Pensées · Section X · 665
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 304, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……5 · Section X · fragment 665,” 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 X
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
La charité n’est pas un précepte figuratif. Dire que Jésus-Christ, qui est venu ôter les figures pour mettre la vérité, ne serait venu que mettre la figure de la charité, pour ôter la réalité qui était auparavant, cela est horrible. « Si la lumière est ténèbres, que seront les ténèbres ? »
Pensées
Pensées · Section IV · 274
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 305, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section IV · fragment 274,” 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 IV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Tout notre raisonnement se réduit à céder au sentiment. Mais la fantaisie est semblable et contraire au sentiment, de sorte qu’on ne peut distinguer entre ces contraires. L’un dit que mon sentiment est fantaisie, l’autre que sa fantaisie est sentiment. Il faudrait avoir une règle ; la raison s’offre, mais elle est ployable à tous sens, et ainsi il n’y en a point.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §27
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 306, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §27,” can mean this: When someone is hurt, listen and help repair the harm.
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 XI – XIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[27] Quae causa in speculo imagines exprimat sciet sapiens: illud tibi geometres potest dicere, quantum abesse debeat corpus ab imagine et qualis forma speculi quales imagines reddat. Magnum esse solem philosophus probabit, quantus sit mathematicus, qui usu quodam et exercitatione procedit. Sed ut procedat, inpetranda illi quaedam principia sunt; non est autem ars sui iuris cui precarium fundamentum est.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 5, passage 18
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 307, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 5, passage 18 · book-5-p-18,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.
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
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
Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear. The same things happen to another, and either because he does not see that they have happened or because he would show a great spirit he is firm and remains unharmed. It is a shame then that ignorance and conceit should be stronger than wisdom.
Pensées
Pensées · Section V · 321
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 308, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……1 · Section V · fragment 321,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
Try this: If something is hard today, say, “Please help me.”
Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
Pascal left these unfinished fragments amid seventeenth-century French scientific development, religious controversy, and illness, probably for a projected Christian apology. Modern grouping and numbering reflect Brunschvicg’s editorial decisions rather than a finished authorial order. Analysis distinguishes religious argument, mathematics, historical evidence, and personal experience.
- Period
- 17th-century France; early modern science and religious controversy
- Region
- France
- Work date
- Fragments written mainly c. 1657–1662; Brunschvicg edition published 1897–1925
- Edition
- Léon Brunschvicg edition, Section V
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Les enfants étonnés voient leurs camarades respectés.
Pensées
Pensées · Section IX · 590
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 309, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section IX · fragment 590,” 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 IX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Pour les religions, il faut être sincère : vrais païens vrais juifs, vrais chrétiens.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 310, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15,” 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: 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
[15] In omnes personas hic exardescit affectus; tam ex amore nascitur quam ex odio, non minus inter seria quam inter lusus et iocos; nec interest ex quam magna causa nascatur sed in qualem perveniat animum. Sic ignis non refert quam magnus sed quo incidat; nam etiam maximum solida non receperunt, rursus arida et corripi facilia scintillam quoque fovent usque in incendium. Ita est, mi Lucili: ingentis irae exitus furor est, et ideo ira vitanda est non moderationis causa sed sanitatis. Vale.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · C. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 311, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12,” 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 XVI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[12] Talia esse scripta eius non dubito, etiam si magis reminiscor quam teneo haeretque mihi color eorum non ex recenti conversatione familiariter sed summatim, ut solet ex vetere notitia; cum audirem certe illum, talia mihi videbantur, non solida sed plena, quae adulescentem indolis bonae attollerent et ad imitationem sui evocarent sine desperatione vincendi, quae mihi adhortatio videtur efficacissima. Deterret enim qui imitandi cupiditatem fecit, spem abstulit. Ceterum verbis abundabat, sine commendatione partium singularum in universum magnificus. Vale.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XLVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §9
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 312, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §9,” can mean this: Ask one more question before making a judgment.
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 V
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[9] Stare ante limen Callisti dominum suum vidi et eum qui illi impegerat titulum, qui inter reicula manicipia produxerat, aliis intrantibus excludi. Rettulit illi gratiam servus ille in primam decuriam coniectus, in qua vocem praeco experitur: et ipse illum invicem apologavit, et ipse non iudicavit domo sua dignum. Dominus Callistum vendidit: sed domino quam multa Callistus!
論語
先進第十一 · 十一之十一
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 313, “論語 · 先進第十一 · 十一之十一 · 十一之十一,” 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
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》先進第十一
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季路問事鬼神。子曰：「未能事人，焉能事鬼？」「敢問死？」曰：「未知生，焉知死？」
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XIX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §7
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 314, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §7,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.
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 II
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[7] Si te ad privata rettuleris, minora erunt omnia, sed affatim implebunt: at nunc plurima et undique ingesta non satiant. Utrum autem mavis ex inopia saturitatem an in copia famem? Et avida felicitas est et alienae aviditati exposita; quamdiu tibi satis nihil fuerit, ipse aliis non eris.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CXIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 315, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.
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 XIX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[22] Quid porro? non interrogabo illos quam figuram habeant ista animalia? hominis an equi an ferae? Si rotundam illis qualem deo dederint, quaeram an et avaritia et luxuria et dementia aeque rotundae sint; sunt enim et ipsae animalia. Si has quoque conrotundaverint, etiamnunc interrogabo an prudens ambulatio animal sit. Necesse est confiteantur, deinde dicant ambulationem animal esse et quidem rotundum.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 5, passage 32
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 316, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 5, passage 32 · book-5-p-32,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
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
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
And call to recollection both how many things thou hast passed through, and how many things thou hast been able to endure: and that the history of thy life is now complete and thy service is ended: and how many beautiful things thou hast seen: and how many pleasures and pains thou hast despised; and how many things called honourable thou hast spurned; and to how many ill-minded folks thou hast shown a kind disposition.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · VII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 317, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3,” can mean this: When caring for someone, ask what they need. Do not make every choice for them.
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 I
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[3] Quid me existimas dicere? avarior redeo, ambitiosior, luxuriosior? immo vero crudelior et inhumanior, quia inter homines fui. Casu in meridianum spectaculum incidi, lusus exspectans et sales et aliquid laxamenti quo hominum oculi ab humano cruore acquiescant. Contra est: quidquid ante pugnatum est misericordia fuit; nunc omissis nugis mera homicidia sunt. Nihil habent quo tegantur; ad ictum totis corporibus ex positi numquam frustra manum mittunt.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §34
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 318, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §34,” can mean this: Fairness is not always giving everyone the same thing. It means taking each person seriously.
Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant today.
Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.
- Period
- Roman Empire, 1st century CE
- Region
- Roman Empire
- Work date
- Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
- Edition
- Latin Wikisource, Liber XI – XIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[34] Habet virtus quoque praecedentem causam ad invidiam; multis enim propter sapientiam, multis propter iustitiam invidetur. Sed nec ex se hanc causam habet nec veri similem; contra enim veri similior illa species hominum animis obicitur a virtute, quae illos in amorem et admirationem vocet.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 12, passage 36
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 319, “Meditations · Meditations · ……2, passage 36 · book-12-p-36,” 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
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 reflection is most adapted to move us to contempt of death, that even those who think pleasure to be a good and pain an evil still have despised it.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XXIV:352
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 320, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XX……mapada · XXIV:352 · XXIV:352,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.
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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He who is without thirst and without affection, who understands the words and their interpretation, who knows the order of letters (those which are before and which are after), he has received his last body, he is called the great sage, the great man.