2 quotations linked to Moral Letters to Lucilius — Letter 76 by or associated with Seneca, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
Learning, wisdom, age, discipline, virtue, chance and the Stoic case for lifelong philosophical study.
Use these links when you want to inspect the wording in its wider work or edition.
“Wisdom comes haphazard to no man.”
Wisdom requires deliberate effort; unlike status or money, it cannot simply arrive through luck or be handed over by someone else.
Letter 76 contrasts wisdom and virtue with external goods that may arrive by chance.
“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.”
Living well is treated as a lifelong subject, so age is not a reason to stop revising judgment, habits, and character.
Letter 76, on learning wisdom in old age, cites the proverb while defending continued philosophical study.
