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 · L. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 121, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.
Important reminder: 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 V
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[5] Nemo difficulter ad naturam reducitur nisi qui ab illa defecit: erubescimus discere bonam mentem. At mehercules, <si> turpe est magistrum huius rei quaerere, illud desperandum est, posse nobis casu tantum bonum influere: laborandum est et, ut verum dicam, ne labor quidem magnus est, si modo, ut dixi, ante animum nostrum formare incipimus et recorrigere quam indurescat pravitas eius.
Pensées
Pensées · Section I · 13
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 122, “Pensées · Pensées · Section ……13 · Section I · fragment 13,” 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: 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 I
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
On aime à voir l’erreur, la passion de Cléobuline, parce qu’elle ne la connaît pas ; elle déplairait, si elle n’était trompée.
論語
述而第七 · 七之三二
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 123, “論語 · 述而第七 · 七之三二 · 七之三二,” 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》述而第七
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
子曰：「文，莫吾猶人也；躬行君子，則吾未之有得！」
Aesop’s Fables
The Dogs and the Fox
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 124, “Aesop’s Fables · The Dogs an……e Fox · the-dogs-and-the-fox,” 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
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
Some Dogs once found a lion’s skin, and were worrying it with their teeth. Just then a Fox came by, and said, “You think yourselves very brave, no doubt; but if that were a live lion you’d find his claws a good deal sharper than your teeth.”
Dhammapada
Dhammapada · XIII:173
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 125, “Dhammapada · Dhammapada · XI……mapada · XIII:173 · XIII:173,” 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: 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
He whose evil deeds are covered by good deeds, brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXVIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 126, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” can mean this: The first thought in your mind may be wrong. Look for clues and think 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
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
[1] De liberalibus studiis quid sentiam scire desideras: nullum suspicio, nullum in bonis numero quod ad aes exit. Meritoria artificia sunt, hactenus utilia si praeparant ingenium, non detinent. Tamdiu enim istis inmorandum est quamdiu nihil animus agere maius potest; rudimenta sunt nostra, non opera.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 4, passage 17
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 127, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 4, passage 17 · book-4-p-17,” 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
Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship of reason.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXIV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §13
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 128, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §13,” can mean this: Real effort makes something better. It is not only looking busy.
Try this: If something is hard today, say, “Please help me.”
Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
Seneca’s letters to Lucilius are usually dated to about 62–65 CE, late in Nero’s reign. They combine counsel with deliberate literary composition. Claims about freedom, wealth, and death must be read alongside Roman political danger, hierarchy, and slavery. This item preserves the original Latin at a fixed Wikisource revision.
- Period
- Roman Empire, 1st century CE
- Region
- Roman Empire
- Work date
- Commonly dated to Seneca’s final years, c. 62–65 CE
- Edition
- Latin Wikisource, Liber VIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[13] Perit fortitudo, quae periculum facere debet sui; perit magnanimitas, quae non potest eminere nisi omnia velut minuta contempsit quae pro maximis vulgus optat; perit gratia et relatio gratiae si timemus laborem, si quicquam pretiosius fide novimus, si non optima spectamus.
Pensées
Pensées · Section II-2 · 102
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 129, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section II-2 · fragment 102,” 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 II-2
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Il y a des vices qui ne tiennent à nous que par d’autres, et qui, en ôtant le tronc, s’emportent comme des branches.
Aesop’s Fables
The Fisherman and the Sprat
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 130, “Aesop’s Fables · The Fisherm…… the-fisherman-and-the-sprat,” can mean this: Ask one more question before making a judgment.
Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.
Important reminder: Being brave does not mean taking unsafe risks. Leave danger and find a trusted adult.
For adults: historical and edition context
The 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 Fisherman cast his net into the sea, and when he drew it up again it contained nothing but a single Sprat that begged to be put back into the water. “I’m only a little fish now,” it said, “but I shall grow big one day, and then if you come and catch me again I shall be of some use to you.” But the Fisherman replied, “Oh, no, I shall keep you now I’ve got you: if I put you back, should I ever see you again? Not likely!”
Pensées
Pensées · Section XIII · 843
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 131, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… Section XIII · fragment 843,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.
Important reminder: 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 XIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Ce n’est point ici le pays de la vérité, elle erre inconnue parmi les hommes. Dieu l’a couverte d’un voile, qui la laisse méconnaître à ceux qui n’entendent pas sa voix. Le lieu est ouvert au blasphème, et même sur des vérités au moins bien apparentes. Si l’on publie les vérités de l’Évangile, on en publie de contraires, et on obscurcit les questions en sorte que le peuple ne peut discerner, Et on demande : Qu’avez-vous pour vous faire plutôt croire que les autres ? Quel signe faites-vous ? Vous n’avez que des paroles, et nous aussi. Si vous aviez des miracles, bien. — Cela est une vérité, que la doctrine doit être soutenue par les miracles, dont on abuse pour blasphémer la doctrine. Et si les miracles arrivent, on dit que les miracles ne suffisent pas sans la doctrine ; et c’est une autre vérité, pour blasphémer, les miracles. Jésus-Christ guérit l’aveugle-né, et fit quantité de miracles, au jour du sabbat. Par où il aveuglait les pharisiens qui disaient qu’il fallait juger des miracles par la doctrine. « Nous avons Moïse : mais celui-là, nous ne savons d’où il est. » C’est ce qui est admirable, que vous ne savez d’où il est ; et cependant il fait de tels miracles. Jésus-Christ ne parlait ni contre Dieu, ni contre Moïse. L’Antechrist et les faux prophètes, prédits par l’un et l’autre Testament, parleront ouvertement contre Dieu et contre Jésus-Christ. Qui n’est point caché… Qui serait ennemi couvert, Dieu ne permettrait pas qu’il fît des miracles ouvertement. Jamais en une dispute publique où les deux parties se disent à Dieu, à Jésus-Christ, à l’Église, les miracles ne sont du côté des faux chrétiens, et l’autre côté sans miracle. « Il a le diable. Joh., x, 21. — Et les autres disaient : Le diable peut-il ouvrir les yeux des aveugles ? » Les preuves que Jésus-Christ et les apôtres tirent de l’Écriture ne sont pas démonstratives ; car ils disent seulement que Moïse a dit qu’un prophète viendrait ; mais ils ne prouvent pas par là que ce soit celui-là, et c’était toute la question. Ces passages ne servent donc qu’à montrer qu’on n’est pas contraire à l’Écriture, et qu’il n’y paraît point de répugnance, mais non pas qu’il y ait accord. Or, cela suffit, exclusion de répugnance, avec miracle. Il y a un devoir réciproque entre Dieu et les hommes, pour faire et pour donner. Venite : Quid debui ? « Accusez-moi, » dit Dieu dans Isaïe. Dieu doit accomplir ses promesses, etc. Les hommes doivent à Dieu de recevoir la religion qu’il leur envoie. Dieu doit aux hommes de ne les point induire en erreur. Or, ils seraient induits en erreur, si les faiseurs [de] miracle annonçaient une doctrine qui ne parût pas visiblement fausse aux lumières du sens commun, et si un plus grand faiseur de miracles n’avait déjà averti de ne les pas croire. Ainsi, s’il y avait division dans l’Église, et que les Ariens, par exemple, qui se disaient fondés en l’Écriture comme les Catholiques, eussent fait des miracles, et non les Catholiques, on eût été induit en erreur. Car, comme un homme qui nous annonce les secrets de Dieu n’est pas digne d’être cru sur son autorité privée, et que c’est pour cela que les impies en doutent, aussi un homme qui, pour marque de la communication qu’il a avec Dieu, ressuscite les morts, prédit l’avenir, transporte les mers, guérit les malades, il n’y a point d’impie qui ne s’y rende, et l’incrédulité de Pharao et des Pharisiens est l’effet d’un endurcissement surnaturel. Quand donc on voit les miracles et la doctrine non suspecte tout ensemble d’un côté, il n’y a pas de difficulté. Mais quand on voit les miracles et doctrine suspects d’un même côté, alors il faut voir quel est le plus clair. Jésus-Christ était suspect. Barjésu aveuglé : la force de Dieu surmonte celle de ses ennemis. Les exorcistes juifs battus par les diables disant : « Je connais Jésus et Paul, mais vous, qui êtes-vous ? » Les miracles sont pour la doctrine, et non pas la doctrine pour les miracles. Si les miracles sont vrais, pourra-t-on persuader toute doctrine ? non, car cela n’arrivera pas. Si angelus… Règle : Il faut juger de la doctrine par les miracles, il faut juger des miracles par la doctrine. Tout cela est vrai, mais cela ne se contredit pas, car il faut distinguer les temps. Que vous êtes aise de savoir les règles générales, pensant par là jeter le trouble, et rendre tout inutile ! On vous en empêchera, mon Père : la vérité est une et ferme. Il est impossible, par le devoir de Dieu, qu’un homme cachant sa mauvaise doctrine, et n’en faisant apparaître qu’une bonne, et se disant conforme à Dieu et à l’Église, fasse des miracles pour couler insensiblement une doctrine fausse et subtile : cela ne se peut. Et encore moins que Dieu, qui connaît les cœurs, fasse des miracles en faveur d’un tel.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · CIII. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 132, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §5,” 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: 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
[5] Ipsam autem philosophiam non debebis iactare; multisfuit periculi causa insolenter tractata et contumaciter: tibi vitia detrahat,non aliis exprobret. Non abhorreat a publicis moribus nec hoc agat ut quidquidnon facit damnare videatur. Licet sapere sine pompa, sine invidia. Vale.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 133, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §1,” can mean this: Real effort makes something better. It is not only looking busy.
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 IX
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[1] Minus tibi accuratas a me epistulas mitti quereris. Quis enim accurate loquitur nisi qui vult putide loqui? Qualis sermo meus esset si una desideremus aut ambularemus, inlaboratus et facilis, tales esse epistulas meas volo, quae nihil habent accersitum nec fictum.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 11, passage 41
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 134, “Meditations · Meditations · ……1, passage 41 · book-11-p-41,” can mean this: After learning something, practise it and ask for help when needed.
Try this: If you disagree, use calm words to explain why.
Important reminder: 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
Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou be able to lay down rules for others before thou shalt have first learned to obey rules thyself. Much more is this so in life.
Pensées
Pensées · Section VI · 380
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 135, “Pensées · Pensées · Section …… · Section VI · fragment 380,” 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: 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 VI
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
Toutes les bonnes maximes sont dans le monde ; on ne manque qu’à les appliquer. Par exemple, on ne doute pas qu’il ne faille exposer sa vie pour défendre le bien public, et plusieurs le font ; mais pour la religion, point. Il est nécessaire qu’il y ait de l’inégalité parmi les hommes, cela est vrai ; mais cela étant accordé, voilà la porte ouverte, non seulement à la plus haute domination, mais à la plus haute tyrannie. Il est nécessaire de relâcher un peu l’esprit ; mais cela ouvre la porte aux plus grands débordements. Qu’on en marque les limites. Il n’y a point de bornes dans les choses : les lois y en veulent mettre, et l’esprit ne peut le souffrir.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 136, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §12,” can mean this: People with power should explain their reasons and allow questions.
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 XI – XIII
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[12] Si in nostra potestate non est an sint adfectus, ne illud quidem est, quanti sint: si ipsis permisisti incipere, cum causis suis crescent tantique erunt quanti fient. Adice nunc quod ista, quamvis exigua sint, in maius excedunt; numquam perniciosa servant modum; quamvis levia initia morborum serpunt et aegra corpora minima interdum mergit accessio.
Meditations
Meditations · Book 9, passage 38
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 137, “Meditations · Meditations · …… 9, passage 38 · book-9-p-38,” can mean this: Knowing what is right matters, and doing it matters too.
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
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
If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LVIII. §31
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 138, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu…… §31 · Liber VI · LVIII. §31,” can mean this: Working together means sharing help and responsibility.
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
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
[31] Nam hoc scis, puto, Platoni diligentiae suae beneficio contigisse quod natali suo decessit et annum unum atque octogensimum implevit sine ulla deductione. Ideo magi, qui forte Athenis erant, immolaverunt defuncto, amplioris fuisse sortis quam humanae rati, quia consummasset perfectissimum numerum, quem novem novies multiplicata componunt. Non dubito quin paratus sis et paucos dies ex ista summa et sacrificium remittere.
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · LXXXV. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §21
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 139, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……NECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §21,” 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: 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
[21] Si est aliquis minus beatus quam alius, sequitur ut hic alterius vitam beatioris magis concupiscat quam suam; beatus autem nihil suae praefert. Utrumlibet ex his incredibile est, aut aliquid beato restare quod esse quam quod est malit, aut id illum non malle quod illo melius est. Utique enim quo prudentior est, hoc magis se ad id quod est optimum extendet et id omni modo consequi cupiet. Quomodo autem beatus est qui cupere etiamnunc potest, immo qui debet?
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Seneca · IX. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6
Simple guide for children under seven
What it means: Today’s item 140, “Epistulae morales ad Luciliu……ENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM §6,” can mean this: Be honest with friends. If someone does not understand you, do not rush to anger.
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 I
Check the complete text with an adult
Open the edition-verified text
[6] Quaeris quomodo amicum cito facturus sit? Dicam, si illud mihi tecum convenerit, ut statim tibi solvam quod debeo et quantum ad hanc epistulam paria faciamus. Hecaton ait, 'ego tibi monstrabo amatorium sine medicamento, sine herba, sine ullius veneficae carmine: si vis amari, ama'. Habet autem non tantum usus amicitiae veteris et certae magnam voluptatem sed etiam initium et comparatio novae.