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.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 8, passage 51
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 361, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 8, passage 51 · book-8-p-51,” 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
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
A cucumber is bitter.—Throw it away.—There are briars in the road.—Turn aside from them.—This is enough. Do not add, And why were such things made in the world? For thou wilt be ridiculed by a man who is acquainted with nature, as thou wouldst be ridiculed by a carpenter and shoemaker if thou didst find fault because thou seest in their workshop shavings and cuttings from the things which they make. And yet they have places into which they can throw these shavings and cuttings, and the universal nature has no external space; but the wondrous part of her art is that though she has circumscribed herself, everything within her which appears to decay and to grow old and to be useless she changes into herself, and again makes other new things from these very same, so that she requires neither substance from without nor wants a place into which she may cast that which decays. She is content then with her own space, and her own matter and her own art.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XLIX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §10
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 362, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §10,” 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: 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
[10] Adversus haec me doce aliquid; effice ut ego mortem non fugiam, vita me non effugiat. Exhortare adversus difficilia, [de aequanimitate] adversus inevitabilia; angustias temporis mei laxa. Doce non esse positum bonum vitae in spatio eius sed in usu posse fieri, immo saepissime fieri, ut qui diu vixit parum vixerit. Dic mihi dormituro 'potes non expergisci'; dic experrecto 'potes non dormire amplius'. Dic exeunti 'potes non reverti'; dic redeunti 'potes non exire'.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXV. §22
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 363, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……. §22 · Liber VII · LXV. §22,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
Try this: Today, listen until another person finishes, then answer.
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
[22] Numquam me caro ista compellet ad metum, numquam ad indignam bono simulationem; numquam in honorem huius corpusculi mentiar. Cum visum erit, distraham cum illo societatem; et nunc tamen, dum haeremus, non erimus aequis partibus socii: animus ad se omne ius ducet. Contemptus corporis sui certa libertas est.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §28
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 364, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §28,” 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: 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
[28] Quomodo, oro te, quod adhuc nihil est iam bonum est? Quomodo autem tibi magis vis probari non esse aliquid quam si dixero 'futurum est'? nondum enim venisse apparet quod veniet. Ver secuturum est: scio nunc hiemem esse. Aestas secutura est: scio aestatem non esse. Maximum argumentum habeo nondum praesentis futurum esse.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXVI. §22
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 365, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu…… §22 · Liber VII · LXVI. §22,” can mean this: Wanting more is normal, and we can also learn what is enough.
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 VII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[22] Agedum pone ex alia parte virum bonum divitiis abundantem, ex altera nihil habentem, sed in se omnia: uterque aeque vir bonus erit, etiam si fortuna dispari utetur. Idem, ut dixi, in rebus iudicium est quod in hominibus: aeque laudabilis virtus est in corpore valido ac libero posita quam in morbido ac vincto.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 12, passage 35
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 366, “Meditations · Meditations · ……2, passage 35 · book-12-p-35,” 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: 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
How does the ruling faculty make use of itself? for all lies in this. But everything else, whether it is in the power of thy will or not, is only lifeless ashes and smoke.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §10
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 367, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §10,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
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 V
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[10] Tacete, favete et praebete vos curationi; etiam si exclamaveritis, non aliter audiam quam si ad tactum vitiorum vestrorum ingemescatis. Testari vultis attendere vos moverique rerum magnitudine? sane liceat: ut quidem iudicetis et feratis de meliore suffragium, quidni non permittam? Apud Pythagoram discipulis quinque annis tacendum erat: numquid ergo existimas statim illis et loqui et laudare licuisse?
Pensées
Pensées · Section XII · 774
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 368, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XII · fragment 774,” 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: 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 XII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Jésus-Christ pour tous, Moïse pour un peuple. Les Juifs bénis en Abraham : « Je bénirai ceux qui te béniront. » Mais : « toutes nations bénies en sa semence. » Parum est ut, etc. Isaïe. Lumen ad revelationem gentium. Non fecit taliter omni nationi, disait David en parlant de la loi. Mais, en parlant de Jésus-Christ, il faut dire : Fecit taliter omni nationi. Parum est ut, etc., Isaïe. Aussi c’est à Jésus-Christ d’être universel ; l’Église même n’offre le sacrifice que pour les fidèles : Jésus-Christ a offert celui de la croix pour tous.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LIII. §5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 369, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……II. §5 · Liber VI · LIII. §5,” can mean this: A first feeling may not be the whole truth. Pause 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
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 VI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[5] Ut primum stomachum, quem scis non cum mari nausiam effugere, collegi, ut corpus unctione recreavi, hoc coepi mecum cogitare, quanta nos vitiorum nostrorum sequeretur oblivio, etiam corporalium, quae subinde admonent sui, nedum illorum quae eo magis latent quo maiora sunt.
Pensées
Pensées · Section VII · 535
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 370, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section VII · fragment 535,” 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: 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
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
On a bien de l’obligation à ceux qui avertissent des défauts, car ils mortifient ; ils apprennent qu’on a été méprisé, ils n’empêchent pas qu’on ne le soit à l’avenir, car on a bien d’autres défauts pour l’être. Ils préparent l’exercice de la correction et l’exemption d’un défaut.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · III:37
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 371, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · III:37 · III:37,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.
Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
The Dhammapada is an anthology of Pali Buddhist verses shaped by long transmission and compilation, so a verifiable occasion cannot be assigned to each verse. This source uses Max Müller’s 1881 translation and keeps its nineteenth-century philological vocabulary visible.
- Period
- Ancient Indian Buddhist tradition; 1881 English translation
- Region
- South Asia / United Kingdom edition
- Work date
- Ancient compilation of uncertain date; translation published 1881
- Edition
- Dhammapada, translated by F. Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. X
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Those who bridle their mind which travels far, moves about alone, is without a body, and hides in the chamber (of the heart), will be free from the bonds of Mara (the tempter).
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XL. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §8
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 372, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §8,” can mean this: People who make rules should listen to questions.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.
Important reminder: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.
For adults: historical and edition context
Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.
- Period
- Roman Empire, 1st century CE
- Region
- Roman Empire
- Work date
- Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
- Edition
- Latin Wikisource, Liber IV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[8] 'Quid ergo? non aliquando et insurget?' Quidni? sed salva dignitate morum, quam violenta ista et nimia vis exuit. Habeat vires magnas, moderatas tamen; perennis sit unda, non torrens. Vix oratori permiserim talem dicendi velocitatem inrevocabilem ac sine lege vadentem: quemadmodum enim iudex subsequi poterit aliquando etiam imperitus et rudis? Tum quoque, cum illum aut ostentatio abstulerit aut affectus impotens sui, tantum festinet atque ingerat quantum aures pati possunt.
論語
泰伯第八 · 八之七
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 373, “論語 · 泰伯第八 · 八之七 · 八之七,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”
Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
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》泰伯第八
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Open the edition-verified text
曾子曰：「士不可以不弘毅，任重而道遠。仁以爲己任，不亦重乎；死而後已，不亦遠乎。」
Meditations
Meditations · Book 5, passage 39
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 374, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 5, passage 39 · book-5-p-39,” can mean this: Real effort makes something better. It is not only looking busy.
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
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
When thou art calling out on the Rostra, hast thou forgotten, man, what these things are?—Yes; but they are objects of great concern to these people—wilt thou too then be made a fool for these things?—I was once a fortunate man, but I lost it, I know not how.—But fortunate means that a man has assigned to himself a good fortune: and a good fortune is good disposition of the soul, good emotions, good actions.
Pensées
Pensées · Section XI · 705
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 375, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section XI · fragment 705,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
Try this: Today, listen until another person finishes, then answer.
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
Open the edition-verified text
Preuve. — Prophéties avec l’accomplissement : ce qui a précédé et ce qui a suivi Jésus-Christ.
Pensées
Pensées · Section VII · 508
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 376, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section VII · fragment 508,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.
Important reminder: 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 VII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Pour faire d’un homme un saint, il faut bien que ce soit la grâce ; et qui en doute ne sait ce que c’est que saint et qu’homme.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXVIII. §2
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 377, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu…… §2 · Liber VII · LXVIII. §2,” 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: 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 VII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[2] Nec ad omnem rem publicam mittimus nec semper nec sine ullo fine; praeterea, cum sapienti rem publicam ipso dignam dedimus, id est mundum, non est extra rem publicam etiam si recesserit, immo fortasse relicto uno angulo in maiora atque ampliora transit et caelo impositus intellegit, cum sellam aut tribunal ascenderet, quam humili loco sederit. Depone hoc apud te, numquam plus agere sapientem quam cum in conspectum eius divina atque humana venerunt.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XIX:264
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 378, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XIX:264 · XIX:264,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
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
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
Not by tonsure does an undisciplined man who speaks falsehood become a Samana; can a man be a Samana who is still held captive by desire and greediness?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 379, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3,” can mean this: A first feeling may not be the whole truth. Pause and think again.
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 XVII – XVIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[3] Tu tamenita cogita quod ex homine periculum sit ut cogites quod sit hominis officium;alterum intuere ne laedaris, alterum ne laedas. Commodis omnium laeteris,movearis incommodis, et memineris quae praestare debeas, quae cavere.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LVIII. §10
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 380, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu…… §10 · Liber VI · LVIII. §10,” 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: 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 VI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[10] Sed quaedam [quae] animum habent nec sunt animalia; placet enim satis et arbustis animam inesse; itaque et vivere illa et mori dicimus. Ergo animantia superiorem tenebunt locum, quia et animalia in hac forma sunt et sata. Sed quaedam anima carent, ut saxa; itaque erit aliquid animantibus antiquius, corpus scilicet. Hoc sic dividam ut dicam corpora omnia aut animantia esse aut inanima.