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 · CXV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §14
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 401, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §14,” 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: 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
[14] Nec apud Graecos tragicos desunt qui lucro innocentiam, salutem, opinionem bonam mutent.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XCI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §17
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 402, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §17,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
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 XIV – XV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[17] Alexander Macedonum rex discere geometriam coeperat, infelix, sciturus quam pusilla terra esset, ex qua minimum occupaverat. Ita dico: 'infelix' ob hoc quod intellegere debebat falsum se gerere cognomen: quis enim esse magnus in pusillo potest? Erant illa quae tradebantur subtilia et diligenti intentione discenda, non quae perciperet vesanus homo et trans oceanum cogitationes suas mittens. 'Facilia' inquit 'me doce'. Cui praeceptor 'ista' inquit 'omnibus eadem sunt, aeque difficilia'.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CXVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §26
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 403, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §26,” 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: 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
[26] 'Sapientia bonum est, sapere non est bonum': sic fit <ut> negemur sapere, ut hoc totum studium derideatur tamquam operatum supervacuis.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · VI:89
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 404, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · VI:89 · VI:89,” 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: 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
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Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge, who without clinging to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free (even) in this world.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 12, passage 33
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 405, “Meditations · Meditations · ……2, passage 33 · book-12-p-33,” 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
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 dost thou wish? to continue to exist? Well, dost thou wish to have sensation? movement? growth? and then again to cease to grow? to use thy speech? to think? What is there of all these things which seems to thee worth desiring? But if it is easy to set little value on all these things, turn to that which remains, which is to follow reason and god. But it is inconsistent with honouring reason and god to be troubled because by death a man will be deprived of the other things.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XCVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §14
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 406, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §14,” can mean this: Ask one more question before making a judgment.
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 XVI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[14] Hoc ego repugnare sectae nostrae si sic expediatur non iudico. Quare? quia prima illa et maxima peccantium est poena peccasse, nec ullum scelus, licet illud fortuna exornet muneribus suis, licet tueatur ac vindicet, inpunitum est, quoniam sceleris in scelere supplicium est. Sed nihilominus et hae illam secundae poenae premunt ac sequuntur, timere semper et expavescere et securitati diffidere. Quare ego hoc supplicio nequitiam liberem? quare non semper illam in suspenso relinquam?
論語
子罕第九 · 九之五
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 407, “論語 · 子罕第九 · 九之五 · 九之五,” 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
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》子罕第九
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子畏於匡。曰：「文王既沒，文不在茲乎？天之將喪斯文也，後死者，不得與於斯文也。天之未喪斯文也，匡人其如予何？」
Pensées
Pensées · Section VI · 385
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 408, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section VI · fragment 385,” can mean this: When angry, pause first. Let your body settle, then explain why.
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
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 VI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Pyrrhonisme. — Chaque chose est ici vraie en partie, fausse en partie. La vérité essentielle n’est pas ainsi : elle est toute pure et toute vraie ; ce mélange la déshonore et l’anéantit. Rien n’est purement vrai ; et ainsi rien n’est vrai, en l’entendant du pur vrai. On dira qu’il est vrai que l’homicide est mauvais ; oui, car nous connaissons bien le mal et le faux. Mais que dira-t-on qui soit bon ? la chasteté ? je dis que non, car le monde finirait. — Le mariage ? non : la continence vaut mieux. — De ne point tuer ? non, car les désordres seraient horribles, et les méchants tueraient tous les bons. — De tuer ? non, car cela détruit la nature. — Nous n’avons ni vrai ni bien qu’en partie, et mêlé de mal et de faux.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 8, passage 56
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 409, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 8, passage 56 · book-8-p-56,” 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
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
No longer let thy breathing only act in concert with the air which surrounds thee, but let thy intelligence also now be in harmony with the intelligence which embraces all things. For the intelligent power is no less diffused in all parts and pervades all things for him who is willing to draw it to him than the aerial power for him who is able to respire it.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 4, passage 9
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 410, “Meditations · Meditations · ……ok 4, passage 9 · book-4-p-9,” 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
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
That which does not make a man worse than he was, also does not make his life worse, nor does it harm him either from without or from within.
論語
述而第七 · 七之三
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 411, “論語 · 述而第七 · 七之三 · 七之三,” 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
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》述而第七
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子曰：「德之不脩，學之不講，聞義不能徙，不善不能改，是吾憂也。」
論語
學而第一 · 一之十
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 412, “論語 · 學而第一 · 一之十 · 一之十,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant 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》學而第一
Check the complete text with an adult
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子禽問於子貢曰：「夫子至於是邦也，必聞其政，求之與？抑與之與？」子貢曰：「夫子溫、良、恭、儉、讓以得之。夫子之求之也，其諸異乎人之求之與？」
Meditations
Meditations · Book 4, passage 8
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 413, “Meditations · Meditations · ……ok 4, passage 8 · book-4-p-8,” 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: 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
Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, “I have been harmed.” Take away the complaint, “I have been harmed,” and the harm is taken away.
Aesop’s Fables
The Peasant and the Apple-Tree
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 414, “Aesop’s Fables · The Peasant……e-peasant-and-the-apple-tree,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.
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
The Aesopic corpus is a long, changing fable tradition, not a set of individually verifiable utterances by one sixth-century BCE author. Each complete item here is fixed to V. S. Vernon Jones’s 1912 English edition.
- Period
- Ancient Greek tradition; 1912 English edition
- Region
- Ancient Mediterranean / United Kingdom edition
- Work date
- Traditional material associated with the 6th century BCE; translation published 1912
- Edition
- Standard Ebooks edition of the 1912 V. S. Vernon Jones translation
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
A Peasant had an Apple-tree growing in his garden, which bore no fruit, but merely served to provide a shelter from the heat for the sparrows and grasshoppers which sat and chirped in its branches. Disappointed at its barrenness he determined to cut it down, and went and fetched his axe for the purpose. But when the sparrows and the grasshoppers saw what he was about to do, they begged him to spare it, and said to him, “If you destroy the tree we shall have to seek shelter elsewhere, and you will no longer have our merry chirping to enliven your work in the garden.” He, however, refused to listen to them, and set to work with a will to cut through the trunk. A few strokes showed that it was hollow inside and contained a swarm of bees and a large store of honey. Delighted with his find he threw down his axe, saying, “The old tree is worth keeping after all.” Utility is most men’s test of worth.
Pensées
Pensées · Section XII · 781
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 415, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XII · fragment 781,” 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
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
Les figures de la totalité de la rédemption, comme que le soleil éclaire à tous, ne marquent qu’une totalité ; mais les [figures] des exclusions, comme des Juifs élus à l’exclusion des Gentils, marquent l’exclusion. « Jésus-Christ rédempteur de tous. » — Oui, car il a offert, comme un homme qui a racheté tous ceux qui voudront venir à lui ; ceux qui mourront en chemin, c’est leur malheur, mais quant à lui, il leur offrait rédemption. — Cela est bon en cet exemple, où celui qui rachète et celui qui empêche de mourir sont deux, mais non pas en Jésus-Christ, qui fait l’un et l’autre. — Non, car Jésus-Christ, en qualité de rédempteur, n’est pas peut-être maître de tous ; et ainsi, en tant qu’il est en lui, il est rédempteur de tous. Quand on dit que Jésus-Christ n’est pas mort pour tous, vous abusez d’un vice des hommes qui s’appliquent incontinent cette exception, ce qui est favoriser le désespoir ; au lieu de les en détourner pour favoriser l’espérance. Car on s’accoutume ainsi aux vertus intérieures par ces habitudes extérieures.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 416, “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: Today, listen until another person finishes, then answer.
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 X
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[12] Sed sane hoc senserit: quod sequitur falsum est, ei qui soleat ebrius fieri non committi sermonem secretum. Cogita enim quam multis militibus non semper sobriis et imperator et tribunus et centurio tacenda mandaverint. De illa C. Caesaris caede, illius dico qui superato Pompeio rem publicam tenuit, tam creditum est Tillio Cimbro quam C. Cassio. Cassius tota vita aquam bibit, Tillius Cimber et nimius erat in vino et scordalus. In hanc rem iocatus est ipse: 'ego' inquit 'quemquam feram, qui vinum ferre non possum?'.
論語
衞靈公第十五 · 十五之三三
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 417, “論語 · 衞靈公第十五 · 十五之三三 · 十五之三三,” can mean this: People with power should explain their reasons and allow questions.
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
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》衞靈公第十五
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子曰：「君子不可小知，而可大受也。小人不可大受，而可小知也。」
Pensées
Pensées · Section III · 224
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 418, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section III · fragment 224,” 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 III
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Que je hais ces sottises, de ne pas croire l’Eucharistie, etc. ! si l’Évangile est vrai, si Jésus-Christ est Dieu, quelle difficulté y a-t-il là ?
Pensées
Pensées · Section XIV · 914
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 419, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XIV · fragment 914,” 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: 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 XIV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Ils laissent agir la concupiscence et retiennent le scrupule, au lieu qu’il faudrait faire au contraire.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §10
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 420, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §10,” can mean this: Try to keep a promise. If you cannot, explain early.
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
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
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[10] Omnia licet fiant: Iubam in regno suo non locorum notitia adiuvet, non popularium pro rege suo virtus obstinatissima, Uticensium quoque fides malis fracta deficiat et Scipionem in Africa nominis sui fortuna destituat: olim provisum est ne quid Cato detrimenti caperet.