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.
Aesop’s Fables
The Wolf and the Lamb
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 401, “Aesop’s Fables · The Wolf an……Lamb · the-wolf-and-the-lamb,” can mean this: Life and time are precious. Care for yourself and the people around you.
Try this: Before choosing, count to three and ask, “Is there another way?”
Important reminder: Do not judge a person from one sentence. Check what happened and think with a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
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 Wolf came upon a Lamb straying from the flock, and felt some compunction about taking the life of so helpless a creature without some plausible excuse; so he cast about for a grievance and said at last, “Last year, sirrah, you grossly insulted me.” “That is impossible, sir,” bleated the Lamb, “for I wasn’t born then.” “Well,” retorted the Wolf, “you feed in my pastures.” “That cannot be,” replied the Lamb, “for I have never yet tasted grass.” “You drink from my spring, then,” continued the Wolf. “Indeed, sir,” said the poor Lamb, “I have never yet drunk anything but my mother’s milk.” “Well, anyhow,” said the Wolf, “I’m not going without my dinner”: and he sprang upon the Lamb and devoured it without more ado.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 9, passage 17
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 402, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 9, passage 17 · book-9-p-17,” can mean this: Knowing what is right matters, and doing it matters too.
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
For the stone which has been thrown up it is no evil to come down, nor indeed any good to have been carried up.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 1, passage 12
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 403, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 1, passage 12 · book-1-p-12,” can mean this: Everyone meets hard choices. We can pause before acting.
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
From Alexander the Platonic, not frequently nor without necessity to say to anyone, or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure; nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties required by our relation to those with whom we live, by alleging urgent occupations.
Pensées
Pensées · Section III · 213
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 404, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……· Section III · fragment 213,” 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: 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
Entre nous, et l’enfer ou le ciel, il n’y a que la vie entre deux, qui est la chose du monde la plus fragile.
Aesop’s Fables
The Dog and the Wolf
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 405, “Aesop’s Fables · The Dog and…… Wolf · the-dog-and-the-wolf,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.
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
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 Dog was lying in the sun before a farmyard gate when a Wolf pounced upon him and was just going to eat him up; but he begged for his life and said, “You see how thin I am and what a wretched meal I should make you now: but if you will only wait a few days my master is going to give a feast. All the rich scraps and pickings will fall to me and I shall get nice and fat: then will be the time for you to eat me.” The Wolf thought this was a very good plan and went away. Some time afterwards he came to the farmyard again, and found the Dog lying out of reach on the stable roof. “Come down,” he called, “and be eaten: you remember our agreement?” But the Dog said coolly, “My friend, if ever you catch me lying down by the gate there again, don’t you wait for any feast.” Once bitten, twice shy.
Aesop’s Fables
The Runaway Slave
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 406, “Aesop’s Fables · The Runaway……ay Slave · the-runaway-slave,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
Try this: After a task, check whether it truly helped someone.
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
A Slave, being discontented with his lot, ran away from his master. He was soon missed by the latter, who lost no time in mounting his horse and setting out in pursuit of the fugitive. He presently came up with him, and the Slave, in the hope of avoiding capture, slipped into a treadmill and hid himself there. “Aha,” said his master, “that’s the very place for you, my man!”
Pensées
Pensées · Section X · 642
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 407, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……2 · Section X · fragment 642,” can mean this: When angry, pause first. Let your body settle, then explain why.
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
Pascal left these unfinished fragments amid seventeenth-century French scientific development, religious controversy, and illness, probably for a projected Christian apology. Modern grouping and numbering reflect Brunschvicg’s editorial decisions rather than a finished authorial order. Analysis distinguishes religious argument, mathematics, historical evidence, and personal experience.
- Period
- 17th-century France; early modern science and religious controversy
- Region
- France
- Work date
- Fragments written mainly c. 1657–1662; Brunschvicg edition published 1897–1925
- Edition
- Léon Brunschvicg edition, Section X
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Preuve des deux Testaments à la fois. — Pour prouver tout d’un coup les deux, il ne faut que voir si les prophéties de l’un sont accomplies en l’autre. Pour examiner les prophéties, il faut les entendre ; car, si on croit qu’elles n’ont qu’un sens, il est sûr que le Messie ne sera point venu ; mais si elles ont deux sens, il est sûr qu’il sera venu en Jésus-Christ. Toute la question est donc de savoir si elles ont deux sens. Que l’Écriture a deux sens, que Jésus-Christ et les apôtres ont donnés, dont voici les preuves : 1o Preuve par l’Écriture même ; 2o Preuve par les Rabbins : Moïse Maymon dit qu’elle a deux faces, et que les prophètes n’ont prophétisé que de Jésus-Christ ; 3o Preuve par la Cabale ; 4o Preuve par l’interprétation mystique que les Rabbins mêmes donnent à l’Écriture ; 5o Preuve par les principes des Rabbins, qu’il y a deux sens, qu’il y a deux avènements, glorieux ou abject, du Messie, selon leur mérite, que les prophètes n’ont prophétisé que du Messie — la loi n’est pas éternelle, mais doit changer au Messie — qu’alors on ne se souviendra plus de la mer Rouge, que les juifs et les gentils seront mêlés ; [6o Preuves par la clé que Jésus-Christ et les apôtres nous en donnent.]
Aesop’s Fables
The Monkey as King
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 408, “Aesop’s Fables · The Monkey ……as King · the-monkey-as-king,” can mean this: When angry, pause first. Let your body settle, then explain why.
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
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
At a gathering of all the animals the Monkey danced and delighted them so much that they made him their King. The Fox, however, was very much disgusted at the promotion of the Monkey: so having one day found a trap with a piece of meat in it, he took the Monkey there and said to him, “Here is a dainty morsel I have found, sire; I did not take it myself, because I thought it ought to be reserved for you, our King. Will you be pleased to accept it?” The Monkey made at once for the meat and got caught in the trap. Then he bitterly reproached the Fox for leading him into danger; but the Fox only laughed and said, “O Monkey, you call yourself King of the Beasts and haven’t more sense than to be taken in like that!”
Aesop’s Fables
The Milkmaid and Her Pail
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 409, “Aesop’s Fables · The Milkmai…… · the-milkmaid-and-her-pail,” 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: 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
A farmer’s daughter had been out to milk the cows, and was returning to the dairy carrying her pail of milk upon her head. As she walked along, she fell a-musing after this fashion: “The milk in this pail will provide me with cream, which I will make into butter and take to market to sell. With the money I will buy a number of eggs, and these, when hatched, will produce chickens, and by and by I shall have quite a large poultry-yard. Then I shall sell some of my fowls, and with the money which they will bring in I will buy myself a new gown, which I shall wear when I go to the fair; and all the young fellows will admire it, and come and make love to me, but I shall toss my head and have nothing to say to them.” Forgetting all about the pail, and suiting the action to the word, she tossed her head. Down went the pail, all the milk was spilled, and all her fine castles in the air vanished in a moment! Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 9, passage 37
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 410, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 9, passage 37 · book-9-p-37,” 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
Enough of this wretched life and murmuring and apish tricks. Why art thou disturbed? What is there new in this? What unsettles thee? Is it the form of the thing? Look at it. Or is it the matter? Look at it. But besides these there is nothing. Towards the gods, then, now become at last more simple and better. It is the same whether we examine these things for a hundred years or three.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §35
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 411, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §35,” can mean this: People who make rules should listen to questions.
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 VIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[35] Imperfecta necesse est labent et modo prodeant, modo sublabantur aut succidant. Sublabentur autem, nisi ire et niti perseveraverint; si quicquam ex studio et fideli intentione laxaverint, retro eundum est. Nemo profectum ibi invenit ubi reliquerat.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXVI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 412, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §15,” can mean this: Nature is not a toy. Observe it, care for it, and do not harm living things.
Try this: Tell a trusted adult one thing you learned today.
Important reminder: Old books can reflect old limits. A child does not need to follow every old rule; ask a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
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 IX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[15] Ergo in homine quoque nihil ad rem pertinet quantum aret, quantum feneret, a quam multis salutetur, quam pretioso incumbat lecto, quam perlucido poculo bibat, sed quam bonus sit. Bonus autem est si ratio eius explicita et recta est et ad naturae suae voluntatem accommodata.
論語
顏淵第十二 · 十二之四
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 413, “論語 · 顏淵第十二 · 十二之四 · 十二之四,” can mean this: People with power should explain their reasons and allow questions.
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
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》顏淵第十二
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
司馬牛問「君子」。子曰：「君子不憂不懼。」曰：「不憂不懼，斯謂之『君子』矣夫？」子曰：「內省不疚，夫何憂何懼！」
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LIV. §3
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 414, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……LIV. §3 · Liber VI · LIV. §3,” 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
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
[3] Tam ridicule facio, si hoc fine quasi bona valetudine delector, quam ille, quisquis vicisse se putat cum vadimonium distulit.
Pensées
Pensées · Section XI · 707
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 415, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section XI · fragment 707,” 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: 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 XI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Mais ce n’était pas assez que les prophéties fussent ; il fallait qu’elles fussent distribuées par tous les lieux et conservées dans tous les temps. Et afin qu’on ne prît point ce concert pour un effet du hasard, il fallait que cela fût prédit. Il est bien plus glorieux au Messie qu’ils soient les spectateurs, et même les instruments de sa gloire, outre que Dieu les a réservés.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · XXXI. SENECA LVCILIO SVO SALVTEM §7
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 416, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LVCILIO SVO SALVTEM §7,” can mean this: Real effort makes something better. It is not only looking busy.
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 IV
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[7] 'Quid ergo?' inquis 'labor frivolus et supervacuus et quem humiles causae evocaverunt non est malus?' Non magis quam ille qui pulchris rebus impenditur, quoniam animi est ipsa tolerantia quae se ad dura et aspera hortatur ac dicit, 'quid cessas? non est viri timere sudorem'.
Aesop’s Fables
The Two Pots
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 417, “Aesop’s Fables · The Two Pots · the-two-pots,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.
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
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
Two Pots, one of earthenware and the other of brass, were carried away down a river in flood. The Brazen Pot urged his companion to keep close by his side, and he would protect him. The other thanked him, but begged him not to come near him on any account: “For that,” he said, “is just what I am most afraid of. One touch from you and I should be broken in pieces.” Equals make the best friends.
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XII:163
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 418, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XII:163 · XII:163,” 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: 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
Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do.
論語
述而第七 · 七之十三
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 419, “論語 · 述而第七 · 七之十三 · 七之十三,” can mean this: New learning becomes stronger when we practise it again.
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》述而第七
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
子在齊聞韶，三月不知肉味，曰：「不圖爲樂之至於斯也！」
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXI. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §2
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 420, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §2,” 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: This is one reading, not a rule that is always right. Tell a trusted adult about danger, bullying, or pain.
For adults: historical and edition context
Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.
- Period
- Roman Empire, 1st century CE
- Region
- Roman Empire
- Work date
- Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
- Edition
- Latin Wikisource, Liber VIII
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[2] Quotiens quid fugiendum sit aut quid petendum voles scire, ad summum bonum, propositum totius vitae tuae, respice. Illi enim consentire debet quidquid agimus: non disponet singula, nisi cui iam vitae suae summa proposita est. Nemo, quamvis paratos habeat colores, similitudinem reddet, nisi iam constat quid velit pingere. Ideo peccamus quia de partibus vitae omnes deliberamus, de tota nemo deliberat.