Daily Classics Library

#221

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LVII. §6

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Speech and truth

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 221, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……II. §6 · Liber VI · LVII. §6,” 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: 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 VI

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[6] Sensi ergo, ut dicebam, quandam non quidem perturbationem, sed mutationem: rursus ad primum conspectum redditae lucis alacritas rediit incogitata et iniussa. Illud deinde mecum loqui coepi, quam inepte quaedam magis aut minus timeremus, cum omnium idem finis esset. Quid enim interest utrum supra aliquem vigilarium ruat an mons? nihil invenies. Erunt tamen qui hanc ruinam magis timeant, quamvis utraque mortifera aeque sit; adeo non effectu, sed efficientia timor spectat.

#222

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · XLVII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §8

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 222, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §8,” 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: 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 V

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[8] Alius, cui convivarum censura permissa est, perstat infelix et exspectat quos adulatio et intemperantia aut gulae aut linguae revocet in crastinum. Adice obsonatores quibus dominici palati notitia subtilis est, qui sciunt cuius illum rei sapor excitet, cuius delectet aspectus, cuius novitate nauseabundus erigi possit, quid iam ipsa satietate fastidiat, quid illo die esuriat. Cum his cenare non sustinet et maiestatis suae deminutionem putat ad eandem mensam cum servo suo accedere. Di melius! quot ex istis dominos habet!

#223

論語

爲政第二 · 二之七

孔子弟子及后学（传统归属）

文言文 / Classical Chinese Saying or dialogue Relationships

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 223, “論語 · 爲政第二 · 二之七 · 二之七,” 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》爲政第二

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子游問孝。子曰：「今之孝者，是謂能養。至於犬馬，皆能有養。不敬，何以別乎？」

#224

Meditations

Meditations · Book 10, passage 25

Marcus Aurelius · Translator: George Long

English Reflection Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 224, “Meditations · Meditations · ……0, passage 25 · book-10-p-25,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

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

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Let this always be plain to thee, that this piece of land is like any other; and that all things here are the same with things on top of a mountain, or on the seashore, or wherever thou choosest to be. For thou wilt find just what Plato says, Dwelling within the walls of a city as in a shepherd’s fold on a mountain.

#225

Pensées

Pensées · Section VI · 343

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 225, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section VI · fragment 343,” 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 VI

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Le bec du perroquet qu’il essuie, quoiqu’il soit net.

#226

Aesop’s Fables

The Wolf and the Crane

Aesop (traditional attribution) · Translator: V. S. Vernon Jones

English Complete story Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 226, “Aesop’s Fables · The Wolf an……ane · the-wolf-and-the-crane,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

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

The Aesopic corpus is a long, changing fable tradition, not a set of individually verifiable utterances by one sixth-century BCE author. Each complete item here is fixed to V. S. Vernon Jones’s 1912 English edition.

Period: Ancient Greek tradition; 1912 English edition
Region: Ancient Mediterranean / United Kingdom edition
Work date: Traditional material associated with the 6th century BCE; translation published 1912
Edition: Standard Ebooks edition of the 1912 V. S. Vernon Jones translation

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A Wolf once got a bone stuck in his throat. So he went to a Crane and begged her to put her long bill down his throat and pull it out. “I’ll make it worth your while,” he added. The Crane did as she was asked, and got the bone out quite easily. The Wolf thanked her warmly, and was just turning away, when she cried, “What about that fee of mine?” “Well, what about it?” snapped the Wolf, baring his teeth as he spoke; “you can go about boasting that you once put your head into a Wolf’s mouth and didn’t get it bitten off. What more do you want?”

#227

Meditations

Meditations · Book 7, passage 2

Marcus Aurelius · Translator: George Long

English Reflection Governance

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 227, “Meditations · Meditations · ……ok 7, passage 2 · book-7-p-2,” 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

How can our principles become dead, unless the impressions [thoughts] which correspond to them are extinguished? But it is in thy power continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame. I can have that opinion about anything, which I ought to have. If I can, why am I disturbed? The things which are external to my mind have no relation at all to my mind.—Let this be the state of thy affects, and thou standest erect. To recover thy life is in thy power. Look at things again as thou didst use to look at them; for in this consists the recovery of thy life.

#228

論語

微子第十八 · 十八之六

孔子弟子及后学（传统归属）

文言文 / Classical Chinese Saying or dialogue Learning

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 228, “論語 · 微子第十八 · 十八之六 · 十八之六,” 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

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》微子第十八

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長沮、桀溺耦而耕。孔子過之，使子路問津焉。長沮曰：「夫執輿者爲誰？」子路曰：「爲孔丘。」曰：「是魯孔丘與？」曰：「是也。」曰：「是知津矣！」問於桀溺，桀溺曰：「子爲誰？」曰：「爲仲由。」曰：「是魯孔丘之徒與？」對曰：「然。」曰：「滔滔者，天下皆是也，而誰以易之？且而與其從辟人之士也，豈若從辟世之士哉？」耰而不輟。子路行以吿，夫子憮然曰：「鳥獸不可與同群！吾非斯人之徒與而誰與？天下有道，丘不與易也。」

#229

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXXIX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Learning

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 229, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” 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 XIV – XV

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[1] Rem utilem desideras et ad sapientiam properanti necessariam, dividi philosophiam et ingens corpus eius in membra disponi; facilius enim per partes in cognitionem totius adducimur. Utinam quidem quemadmodum universa mundi facies in conspectum venit, ita philosophia tota nobis posset occurrere, simillimum mundo spectaculum! Profecto enim omnes mortales in admirationem sui raperet, relictis iis quae nunc magna magnorum ignorantia credimus. Sed quia contingere hoc non potest, est sic nobis aspicienda quemadmodum mundi secreta cernuntur.

#230

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · XXX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §14

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Nature and ecology

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 230, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §14,” 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 IV

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

[14] Dicebat quidem ille Epicuri praeceptis obsequens, primum sperare se nullum dolorem esse in illo extremo anhelitu; si tamen esset, habere aliquantum in ipsa brevitate solacii; nullum enim dolorem longum esse qui magnus est. Ceterum succursurum sibi etiam in ipsa distractione animae corporis que, si cum cruciatu id fieret, post illum dolorem se dolere non posse. Non dubitare autem se quin senilis anima in primis labris esset nec magna vi distraheretur a corpore. 'Ignis qui alentem materiam occupavit aqua et interdum ruina exstinguendus est: ille qui alimentis deficitur sua sponte subsidit.'

#231

Pensées

Pensées · Section VI · 373

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Mind and reflection

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 231, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section VI · fragment 373,” 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: 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 VI

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Pyrrhonisme. — J’écrirai ici mes pensées sans ordre, et non pas peut-être dans une confusion sans dessein : c’est le véritable ordre, et qui marquera toujours mon objet par le désordre même. Je ferais trop d’honneur à mon sujet, si je le traitais avec ordre, puisque je veux montrer qu’il en est incapable.

#232

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXVIII. §1

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 232, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu…… §1 · Liber VII · LXVIII. §1,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

Try this: Give gentle care to a person, animal, or plant today.

Important reminder: Do not judge a person from one sentence. Check what happened and think with a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.

Period: Roman Empire, 1st century CE
Region: Roman Empire
Work date: Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
Edition: Latin Wikisource, Liber VII

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

[1] Consilio tuo accedo: absconde te in otio, sed et ipsum otium absconde. Hoc te facturum Stoicorum etiam si non praecepto, at exemplo licet scias; sed ex praecepto quoque facies: et tibi et cui voles approbaris.

#233

Pensées

Pensées · Section II-1 · 71

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Speech and truth

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 233, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section II-1 · fragment 71,” 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 II-1

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Trop et trop peu de vin : ne lui en donnez pas, il ne peut trouver la vérité ; donnez-lui en trop, de même.

#234

論語

八佾第三 · 三之二三

孔子弟子及后学（传统归属）

文言文 / Classical Chinese Saying or dialogue Learning

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 234, “論語 · 八佾第三 · 三之二三 · 三之二三,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.

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

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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子語魯大師樂，曰：「樂其可知也。始作，翕如也。從之，純如也，皦如也，繹如也。以成。」

#235

Dhammapada

Dhammapada · XII:161

Anonymous Pali Buddhist anthology · Translator: Friedrich Max Müller

English Complete verse Ethics

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 235, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XII:161 · XII:161,” can mean this: Knowing what is right matters, and doing it matters too.

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

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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The evil done by oneself, self-begotten, self-bred, crushes the foolish, as a diamond breaks a precious stone.

#236

Meditations

Meditations · Book 12, passage 21

Marcus Aurelius · Translator: George Long

English Reflection Desire and restraint

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 236, “Meditations · Meditations · ……2, passage 21 · book-12-p-21,” 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: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.

For adults: historical and edition context

Marcus Aurelius governed in the second century CE amid frontier wars, imperial administration, and the Antonine plague. The Meditations are private Greek exercises; the exact date and place of individual notes are often uncertain. This edition uses George Long’s 1862 translation.

Period: Roman Empire, 2nd century CE; 1862 English translation
Region: Roman Empire / United Kingdom edition
Work date: Original notes c. 170s CE; translation first published 1862
Edition: Standard Ebooks edition of George Long’s translation

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Perceive at last that thou hast in thee something better and more divine than the things which cause the various affects, and as it were pull thee by the strings. What is there now in my mind? Is it fear, or suspicion, or desire, or anything of the kind?

#237

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · XXXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Action and practice

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 237, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §3,” can mean this: Do not only work fast. Check whether the work truly helped.

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

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

[3] 'Quid illud?' inquis 'adhuc volo.' In hoc plurimum est, non sic quomodo principia totius operis dimidium occupare dicuntur. Ista res animo constat; itaque pars magna bonitatis est velle fieri bonum. Scis quem bonum dicam? perfectum, absolutum, quem malum facere nulla vis, nulla necessitas possit.

#238

Aesop’s Fables

The Lion and the Three Bulls

Aesop (traditional attribution) · Translator: V. S. Vernon Jones

English Complete story Relationships

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 238, “Aesop’s Fables · The Lion an……the-lion-and-the-three-bulls,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.

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

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

Three Bulls were grazing in a meadow, and were watched by a Lion, who longed to capture and devour them, but who felt that he was no match for the three so long as they kept together. So he began by false whispers and malicious hints to foment jealousies and distrust among them. This stratagem succeeded so well that ere long the Bulls grew cold and unfriendly, and finally avoided each other and fed each one by himself apart. No sooner did the Lion see this than he fell upon them one by one and killed them in turn. The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes.

#239

Dhammapada

Dhammapada · XIX:260

Anonymous Pali Buddhist anthology · Translator: Friedrich Max Müller

English Complete verse Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 239, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XIX:260 · XIX:260,” 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: 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

A man is not an elder because his head is grey; his age may be ripe, but he is called `Old-in-vain.'

#240

Pensées

Pensées · Section XIV · 935

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Power and justice

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 240, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XIV · fragment 935,” 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: 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 XIV

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Les Jésuites. — Les Jésuites ont voulu joindre Dieu au monde et n’ont gagné que le mépris de Dieu et du monde. Car du côté de la conscience cela est évident, et du côté du monde ils ne sont pas de bons cabalistes. Ils ont du pouvoir, comme je l’ai dit souvent, mais c’est-à-dire à l’égard des autres religieux. Ils auront le crédit de faire bâtir une chapelle et d’avoir une station du jubilé, non de pouvoir faire avoir des évêchés, des gouvernements de places. C’est un sot poste dans le monde que celui de moines, qu’ils tiennent par leur aveu même (P. Brisacier. Bénédictins). Cependant… vous ployez sous les plus puissants que vous et vous opprimez de tout votre petit crédit ceux qui ont moins d’intrigue que vous dans le monde.

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