Theme
Gratitude
74 passages
- Chrysippus A good is not enlarged by duration. One wise moment makes a person no less happy than a lifetime spent wisely.
- Epictetus Happiness cannot live with craving what is absent. The happy person has what is needed, like one well fed, without…
- Epictetus If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be…
- Epictetus Live as though at a shared feast. When something comes to you, take a modest portion. If it passes, do not grab after…
- Epictetus Never say of anything, "I have lost it"; but, "I have returned it." Is your child dead? It is returned. Is your wife…
- Epictetus When loss stings, remember that what you love is fragile and lent, not a possession. Hold child, sibling, and friend…
- Epictetus When you eat with another, then, remember not only the value of those things which are set before you to the body, but…
- Epictetus When you have brought yourself to supply the necessities of your body at a small price, don't pique yourself upon it;…
- Marcus Aurelius Accept what comes without pride; release what leaves without clinging.
- Marcus Aurelius After doing well and helping another, why seek a third reward—praise for the act or a favor returned?
- Marcus Aurelius All substances come soon to their change, and either they shall be resolved by way of exhalation (if so be that all…
- Marcus Aurelius All that I consist of, is either form or matter. No corruption can reduce either of these unto nothing: for neither…
- Marcus Aurelius All things that thou seest, will soon be perished, and they that see their corruptions, will soon vanish away…
- Marcus Aurelius And lastly, which beareth me that tread upon it, and beareth with me that so many ways do abuse it, or so freely make…
- Marcus Aurelius As generation is, so also death, a secret of nature's wisdom: a mixture of elements, resolved into the same elements…
- Marcus Aurelius 'As often as a father kisseth his child, he should say secretly with himself' (said Epictetus,) 'tomorrow perchance…
- Marcus Aurelius As one who had lived, and were now to die by right, whatsoever is yet remaining, bestow that wholly as a gracious…
- Marcus Aurelius As the ordinary shows of the theatre and of other such places, when thou art presented with them, affect thee; as the…
- Marcus Aurelius Consider now the death of a whole kindred and family, as of that of the Pompeys, as that also that useth to be written…
- Marcus Aurelius Cross this short span of life in accord with nature, then arrive at your final rest with grace, as a ripe olive falls,…
- Marcus Aurelius Do not treat what you lack as already yours. Value the things you have by imagining their absence, but do not cling so…
- Marcus Aurelius Give what thou wilt, and take away what thou wilt, saith he that is well taught and truly modest, to Him that gives,…
- Marcus Aurelius Have I done anything charitably? then am I benefited by it. See that this upon all occasions may present itself unto…
- Marcus Aurelius How many of them who came into the world at the same time when I did, are already gone out of it?
- Marcus Aurelius Is it so with thee, that hitherto thou hast neither by word or deed wronged any of them? Remember withal through how…
- Marcus Aurelius Let this be thy only joy, and thy only comfort, from one sociable kind action without intermission to pass unto…
- Marcus Aurelius Of Catulus, not to contemn any friend's expostulation, though unjust, but to strive to reduce him to his former…
- Marcus Aurelius Of him also I learned how to receive favours and kindnesses (as commonly they are accounted:) from friends, so that I…
- Marcus Aurelius Of him also, to observe a constant tenor, (not interrupted, with any other cares and distractions,) in the study and…
- Marcus Aurelius One person helps and demands repayment; another remembers the debt; a third does good like a vine bears fruit—then…
- Marcus Aurelius Receive temporal blessings without ostentation, when they are sent and thou shalt be able to part with them with all…
- Marcus Aurelius Regard the life already lived as finished; receive what remains as a gift, and live it in accord with nature. Love the…
- Marcus Aurelius So figs are accounted fairest and ripest then, when they begin to shrink, and wither as it were. So ripe olives, when…
- Marcus Aurelius Such as thy thoughts and ordinary cogitations are, such will thy mind be in time. For the soul doth as it were receive…
- Marcus Aurelius That I have had such a brother, who by his own example might stir me up to think of myself; and by his respect and…
- Marcus Aurelius That rational essence by which the universe is governed, is for community and society; and therefore hath it both made…
- Marcus Aurelius That which most men would think themselves most happy for, and would prefer before all things, if the Gods would grant…
- Marcus Aurelius The Gods themselves are good unto such; yea and in some things, (as in matter of health, of wealth, of honour,) are…
- Marcus Aurelius Those things which the common sort of people do admire, are most of them such things as are very general, and may be…
- Marcus Aurelius To them that ask thee, Where hast thou seen the Gods, or how knowest thou certainly that there be Gods, that thou art…
- Marcus Aurelius What Socrates answered unto Perdiccas, why he did not come unto him, Lest of all deaths I should die the worst kind of…
- Marcus Aurelius Whatsoever is expedient unto thee, O World, is expedient unto me; nothing can either be 'unseasonable unto me, or out…
- Marcus Aurelius Whatsoever it is that thou goest about, consider of it by thyself, and ask thyself, What? because I shall do this no…
- Marcus Aurelius When thou seest Satyro, think of Socraticus and Eutyches, or Hymen, and when Euphrates, think of Eutychio, and…
- Marcus Aurelius When thou wilt comfort and cheer thyself, call to mind the several gifts and virtues of them, whom thou dost daily…
- Marcus Aurelius You can possess now what you pray to gain by a long route, if only you stop withholding it from yourself.
- Marcus Aurelius You will sooner find earth separated from the ground than a human being wholly apart from other people.
- Musonius Rufus It is better to earn a reputation for benefiting many than for lavish living; spending on people is worthier than…
- Seneca A very small amount of it, therefore, is abundantly sufficient, and so, when his last day arrives, the wise man will…
- Seneca Fortune overwhelms no one who has not first trusted her too much. The person who remains modest in prosperity is not…
- Seneca Greed has no point of enough, while nature is satisfied with little. Exile is therefore no calamity: no land is so…
- Seneca “He gave me the praetorship. Yes, but I had hoped for the consulship. He bestowed the twelve axes upon me: true, but…
- Seneca Hecato says: no herbs, potions, or spells are needed for this charm—if you want love, begin by loving.
- Seneca If you were to bring to me all the money from all our mines, which we are at this moment sinking, if you were to bring…
- Seneca It accords with nature to love our friends and rejoice at their progress as though it were our own. Without this…
- Seneca It is hard, no doubt, for a mind which has received so rude a shock to betake itself so quickly to these livelier…
- Seneca It is to guarantee the safety of all these that Fortune has struck you in this quarter: you have many left in whom you…
- Seneca Keep a benefit as one keeps treasure buried for a time, drawing on it when needed. Nature calls us to help all people;…
- Seneca Make yourself as grateful as you can. Gratitude benefits us greatly and returns its payment to the giver.
- Seneca Nature gave him to you, as she gives others to other brothers, not as an absolute property, but as a loan: afterwards…
- Seneca No one can obtain every object of desire. But each of us can decline to crave what is absent and gladly use what is…
- Seneca Nothing is sufficient for covetous desire, but Nature can be satisfied even with scant measure. The poverty of an…
- Seneca The Emperor Augustus lost his darling sister Octavia, and though Nature destined him for heaven, yet she did not relax…
- Seneca The first of these I shall only touch upon lightly, for I know that your heart loves nothing belonging to your…
- Seneca The maker of the world gave us what is needed to live well, not to live lavishly. What serves us is close at hand;…
- Seneca There is, therefore, no reason for a service which is useless if it is not felt by him who is the object of it, and…
- Seneca We are born to a comfortable position enough, if we 324do not afterwards lose it: the aim of Nature has been to enable…
- Seneca Whatever gift Fortune bestows upon a man, let him think while he enjoys it, that it will prove as fickle as the…
- Seneca When I return from seeing it I am a sadder, though not a worse man, I cannot walk amid my own paltry possessions with…
- Seneca You accustom yourself to them and cling to them as if somebody had promised that they should be yours for ever, but a…
- Seneca You are mistaken! your brother has not lost the light of day, but has obtained a more enduring light: whither he has…
- Seneca You have grieved at the only grief so good a son could cause you: all else is beyond the power of fortune to harm, and…
- Seneca You say, “I am deprived of the embraces of my darling son, I cannot enjoy the pleasure of seeing him and of hearing…
- Seneca You will show more respect for the youth himself, who well deserves that it should make you glad to speak and think of…