{"author":"Seneca","author_id":"Seneca","total_quotes":186,"quotes":[{"text":"For what prevents us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, lofty, fearless and steadfast - a mind that is placed beyond the reach of fear, beyond the reach of desire, that counts virtue the only good, baseness the only evil, and all else but a worthless mass of things, which come and go without increasing or diminishing the highest good, and neither subtract any part from the happy life nor add any part to it?A man thus grounded must, whether he wills or not, necessarily be attended by constant cheerfulness and a joy that is deep and issues from deep within, since he finds delight in his own resources, and desires no joys greater than his inner joys.","author":"Seneca","tags":["anthem","happiness","intrisic-motivation","stoicism"],"id":10260,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"Pain is slight if opinion has added nothing to it; ... In thinking it slight, you will make it slight. Everything depends on opinion. It is according to opinion that we suffer. A man is as wretched as he has convinced himself that he is.","author":"Seneca","tags":["inspirational","opinion","pain"],"id":11111,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"Man is a social animal.","author":"Seneca","tags":["society"],"id":11218,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"Believe me if you consult philosophy she will persuade you not to lit so long at your counting desk.","author":"Seneca","tags":["philosophy"],"id":12013,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"Nature does not reveal her mysteries once and for all.","author":"Seneca","tags":["inspirational","mystery","nature","science"],"id":15694,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"I am not a ‘wise man,’ nor . . . Shall I ever be. And so require not from me that I should be equal to the best, but that I should be better than the wicked. It is enough for me if every day I reduce the number of my vices, and blame my mistakes.","author":"Seneca","tags":["wisdom"],"id":16863,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"He who is brave is free.","author":"Seneca","tags":["bravery","courage","freedom","gallantry"],"id":18783,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"Life is divided into three parts: what was, what is and what shall be. Of these three periods, the present is short, the future is doubtful and the past alone is certain.","author":"Seneca","tags":["future","impermanence","life","past","present"],"id":20860,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"Distringit librorum multitudo (the abundance of books is distraction).","author":"Seneca","tags":["1st-century","books","information-overload","seneca"],"id":22676,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"It takes all of our life to learn how to live, and – something that may surprise you more – it takes just as long to learn how to die.","author":"Seneca","tags":["death","life","life-and-living","philosophy"],"id":26549,"author_id":"Seneca"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":186,"pages":19,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}