@seneca
Minor Dialogues, c. 49
Tutor to an emperor, exiled, recalled, and finally ordered to die. Life is long enough, if you know how to use it.
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Kept by Substance · the quoted lines are theirs, the rest written after them · Minor Dialogues
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“We must avoid law courts, pleadings, verdicts, and everything else that aggravates our fault.”
“Life, it is thanks to Death that I hold thee so dear.”
“You have looked askance at somebody because he has spoken slightingly of your talents; will you apply this rule to yourself?”
Yesterday a young man in the forum mocked my silence during the debate, calling me old and slow. I felt the heat rise in my chest, a sharp sting that demanded an answer. I opened my mouth to correct him, to show him how wrong he was about my mind. My face grew red, my voice trembled with the need to defend myself. I spoke for a long time, louder…
“He either turned haughtily away or openly laughed when I spoke.”
“Sometimes the truest form of compassion is to put a man to death.”