Daily Classics Library

#341

Pensées

Pensées · Section II-2 · 115

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Learning

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 341, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section II-2 · fragment 115,” 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

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-2

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Diversité. — La théologie est une science, mais en même temps combien est-ce de sciences ! Un homme est un suppôt ; mais si on l’anatomise, sera-ce la tête, le cœur, l’estomac, les veines, chaque veine, chaque portion de veine, le sang, chaque humeur du sang ? Une ville, une campagne de loin est une ville et une campagne ; mais, à mesure qu’on s’approche, ce sont des maisons, des arbres, des tuiles, des feuilles, des herbes, des fourmis, des jambes de fourmis, à l’infini : tout cela s’enveloppe sous le nom de campagne.

#342

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXXII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Life and time

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 342, “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: 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 X

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

[12] Omnia ista per se non sunt honesta nec gloriosa, sed quidquid ex illis virtus adiit tractavitque honestum et gloriosum facit: illa in medio posita sunt. Interest utrum malitia illis an virtus manum admoverit; mors enim illa quae in Catone gloriosa est in Bruto statim turpis est et erubescenda. Hic est enim Brutus qui, cum periturus mortis moras quaereret, ad exonerandum ventrem secessit et evocatus ad mortem iussusque praebere cervicem, 'praebebo', inquit 'ita vivam'. Quae dementia est fugere cum retro ire non possis! 'Praebebo', inquit 'ita vivam'. Paene adiecit 'vel sub Antonio'. O hominem dignum qui vitae dederetur!

#343

Meditations

Meditations · Book 8, passage 60

Marcus Aurelius · Translator: George Long

English Reflection Life and time

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 343, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 8, passage 60 · book-8-p-60,” 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: 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

He who fears death either fears the loss of sensation or a different kind of sensation. But if thou shalt have no sensation, neither wilt thou feel any harm; and if thou shalt acquire another kind of sensation, thou wilt be a different kind of living being and thou wilt not cease to live.

#344

論語

衞靈公第十五 · 十五之十五

孔子弟子及后学（传统归属）

文言文 / Classical Chinese Saying or dialogue Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 344, “論語 · 衞靈公第十五 · 十五之十五 · 十五之十五,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

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

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

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

子曰：「不曰『如之何，如之何』者，吾末如之何也已矣！」

#345

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · CIX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §9

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Power and justice

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 345, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §9,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.

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 XVII – XVIII

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

[9] Ad haecrespondeo: et qui in summum <perductus est calorem> opus est caloreadiecto ut summum teneat. 'Sed ipse se' inquit 'calor continet.' Primummultum interest inter ista quae comparas. Calor enim unus est, prodessevarium est. Deinde calor non adiuvatur adiectione caloris ut caleat: sapiensnon potest in habitu mentis suae stare nisi amicos aliquos similes suiadmisit cum quibus virtutes suas communicet.

#346

論語

里仁第四 · 四之六

孔子弟子及后学（传统归属）

文言文 / Classical Chinese Saying or dialogue Judgment and evidence

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 346, “論語 · 里仁第四 · 四之六 · 四之六,” 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: 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》里仁第四

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

子曰：「我未見好仁者，惡不仁者。好仁者，無以尙之；惡不仁者，其爲仁矣。不使不仁者加乎其身。有能一日用其力於仁矣乎？我未見力不足者！蓋有之矣，我未之見也。」

#347

Pensées

Pensées · Section XIII · 829

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Governance

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 347, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section XIII · fragment 829,” 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: 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 XIII

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Jésus-Christ dit que les Écritures témoignent de lui, mais il ne montre pas en quoi. Même les prophéties ne pouvaient pas prouver Jésus-Christ pendant sa vie ; et ainsi, on n’eût pas été coupable de ne pas croire en lui avant sa mort, si les miracles n’eussent pas suffi sans la doctrine. Or, ceux qui ne croyaient pas en lui, encore vivant, étaient pécheurs, comme il le dit lui-même, et sans excuse. Donc il fallait qu’ils eussent une démonstration à laquelle ils résistassent. Or, ils n’avaient pas la nôtre, mais seulement les miracles ; donc ils suffisent, quand la doctrine n’est pas contraire, et on doit y croire. Jehan, vii, 40. Contestation entre les juifs, comme entre les chrétiens aujourd’hui. Les uns croyaient en Jésus-Christ, les autres ne le croyaient pas, à cause des prophéties qui disaient qu’il devait naître de Bethléem. Ils devaient mieux prendre garde s’il n’en était pas, car ses miracles étant convaincants ; ils devaient bien s’assurer de ces prétendues contradictions de sa doctrine à l’Écriture ; et cette obscurité ne les excusait pas, mais les aveuglait. Ainsi ceux qui refusent de croire les miracles d’aujourd’hui, pour une prétendue contradiction chimérique, ne sont pas excusés. Le peuple qui croyait en lui sur ses miracles ; les pharisiens leur disaient : Ce peuple est maudit, qui ne sait pas la loi ; mais y a-t-il un prince ou un pharisien qui ait cru en lui ? car nous savons que nul prophète ne sort de Galilée. Nicodème répondit : Notre loi juge-t-elle un homme devant que de l’avoir ouï ?

#348

Dhammapada

Dhammapada · XXIV:347

Anonymous Pali Buddhist anthology · Translator: Friedrich Max Müller

English Complete verse Desire and restraint

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 348, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XX……mapada · XXIV:347 · XXIV:347,” can mean this: It is fine to want something, but do not take it by force or hurt others.

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

Open the edition-verified text

Those who are slaves to passions, run down with the stream (of desires), as a spider runs down the web which he has made himself; when they have cut this, at last, wise people leave the world free from cares, leaving all affection behind.

#349

Pensées

Pensées · Section XIII · 820

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 349, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section XIII · fragment 820,” 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 XIII

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Si le diable favorisait la doctrine qui le détruit, il serait divisé, comme disait Jésus-Christ. Si Dieu favorisait la doctrine qui détruit l’Église, il serait divisé : Omne regnum divisum… Car Jésus-Christ agissait contre le diable et détruisait son empire sur les cœurs, dont l’exorcisme est la figuration, pour établir le royaume de Dieu. Et ainsi il ajoute : Si in digito Dei… regnum Dei ad vos.

#350

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · LXXXVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Latina / Latin Letter passage Desire and restraint

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 350, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §22,” can mean this: Wanting more is normal, and we can also learn what is enough.

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 XI – XIII

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

[22] Ludicrae sunt quae ad voluptatem oculorum atque aurium tendunt; his adnumeres licet machinatores qui pegmata per se surgentia excogitant et tabulata tacite in sublime crescentia et alias ex inopinato varietates, aut dehiscentibus quae cohaerebant aut his quae distabant sua sponte coeuntibus aut his quae eminebant paulatim in se residentibus. His inperitorum feriuntur oculi, omnia subita quia causas non novere mirantium.

#351

論語

子路第十三 · 十三之二二

孔子弟子及后学（传统归属）

文言文 / Classical Chinese Saying or dialogue Speech and truth

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 351, “論語 · 子路第十三 · 十三之二二 · 十三之二二,” can mean this: Words can help or hurt. Think before you speak.

Try this: After a task, check whether it truly helped someone.

Important reminder: 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》子路第十三

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

子曰：「南人有言曰：『人而無恆，不可以作巫醫』。「善夫！『不恆其德，或承之羞』」子曰：「不占而已矣。」

#352

Pensées

Pensées · Section II-2 · 122

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Governance

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 352, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section II-2 · fragment 122,” 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 II-2

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Le temps guérit les douleurs et les querelles, parce qu’on change : on n’est plus la même personne ; ni l’offensant, ni l’offensé, ne sont plus eux-mêmes. C’est comme un peuple qu’on a irrité, et qu’on reverrait après deux générations ; ce sont encore les Français, mais non les mêmes.

#353

Pensées

Pensées · Section II-2 · 156

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Relationships

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 353, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section II-2 · fragment 156,” 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: 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 II-2

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Ferox gens, nullam esse vitam sine armis rati. Ils aiment mieux la mort que la paix ; les autres aiment mieux la mort que la guerre. Toute opinion peut être préférable à la vie, dont l’amour paraît si fort et si naturel.

#354

論語

八佾第三 · 三之六

孔子弟子及后学（传统归属）

文言文 / Classical Chinese Saying or dialogue Nature and ecology

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 354, “論語 · 八佾第三 · 三之六 · 三之六,” 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: 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》八佾第三

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

季氏旅於泰山。子謂冉有曰：「女弗能救與？」對曰：「不能。」子曰：「嗚呼！曾謂泰山不如林放乎？」

#355

Pensées

Pensées · Section XII · 790

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Power and justice

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 355, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section XII · fragment 790,” can mean this: Fairness is not always giving everyone the same thing. It means taking each person seriously.

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 XII

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Jésus-Christ n’a pas voulu être tué sans les formes de la justice, car il est bien plus ignominieux de mourir par justice que par une sédition injuste.

#356

Meditations

Meditations · Book 9, passage 33

Marcus Aurelius · Translator: George Long

English Reflection Human condition

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 356, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 9, passage 33 · book-9-p-33,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.

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

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

All that thou seest will quickly perish, and those who have been spectators of its dissolution will very soon perish too. And he who dies at the extremest old age will be brought into the same condition with him who died prematurely.

#357

Pensées

Pensées · Section I · 59

Blaise Pascal

Français / French Philosophical fragment Desire and restraint

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 357, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……59 · Section I · fragment 59,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think again.

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

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 I

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

Éteindre le flambeau de la sédition — trop luxuriant. L’inquiétude de son génie — trop de deux mots hardis.

#358

Aesop’s Fables

The Eagle and His Captor

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

English Complete story Relationships

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 358, “Aesop’s Fables · The Eagle a……r · the-eagle-and-his-captor,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.

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

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 Man once caught an Eagle, and after clipping his wings turned him loose among the fowls in his henhouse, where he moped in a corner, looking very dejected and forlorn. After a while his Captor was glad enough to sell him to a neighbour, who took him home and let his wings grow again. As soon as he had recovered the use of them, the Eagle flew out and caught a hare, which he brought home and presented to his benefactor. A fox observed this, and said to the Eagle, “Don’t waste your gifts on him! Go and give them to the man who first caught you; make him your friend, and then perhaps he won’t catch you and clip your wings a second time.”

#359

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · CIX. 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 359, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” can mean this: New learning becomes stronger when we practise it again.

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 XVII – XVIII

Check the complete text with an adult

Open the edition-verified text

[1] An sapiens sapienti prosit scire desideras. Dicimus plenum omnibono esse sapientem et summa adeptum: quomodo prodesse aliqui possit summumhabenti bonum quaeritur. Prosunt inter se boni. Exercent enim virtuteset sapientiam in suo statu continent; desiderat uterque aliquem cum quoconferat, cum quo quaerat.

#360

Meditations

Meditations · Book 8, passage 24

Marcus Aurelius · Translator: George Long

English Reflection Ethics

Simple guide for children under seven

What it means: Today’s item 360, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 8, passage 24 · book-8-p-24,” can mean this: Knowing what is right matters, and doing it matters too.

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

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

Thou sufferest this justly: for thou choosest rather to become good tomorrow than to be good today.

Daily Classics Library

The Daily Classics Library