Named source · 49–62 CE

Of Peace of Mind Quotes by Seneca: Context & Meanings

6 quotations linked to Of Peace of Mind by or associated with Seneca, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

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Seneca’s Stoic dialogue Of Peace of Mind (De Tranquillitate Animi), represented through Aubrey Stewart’s 1889 English translation

Topics and ideas

Tranquility, realistic self-estimation, limits, self-command, ambition, hope and fear, solitude, company and the management of external pressure.

English wording

Translation

Aubrey Stewart — Translator · Latin → English

The wording shown here follows the represented English edition or translation.

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Primary / edition source · en.wikisource.org ↗ Primary / edition source · en.wikisource.org ↗ Primary / edition source · en.wikisource.org ↗ Primary / edition source · en.wikisource.org ↗

Represented passages

6 quotations with source context and meaning

Source identified1

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“It is above all things necessary to form a true estimate of oneself.”

Seneca

Meaning & context

A realistic estimate of one’s abilities and limits supports both confidence and humility, reducing the instability that comes from either self-contempt or exaggerated self-belief.

Source details

Of Peace of Mind, section VI, Aubrey Stewart translation (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and Wikisource. The sentence opens Seneca’s advice to form a true estimate of oneself before matching undertakings to one’s actual abilities and temperament.

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“Have confidence in yourself, and believe that you are proceeding on the right path.”

Seneca

Meaning & context

Seneca makes self-confidence a condition of steadiness: tranquility depends partly on trusting a course that has been examined rather than continually surrendering judgment to outside pressure.

Source details

Of Peace of Mind, section II, Aubrey Stewart translation in Minor Dialogues Together with the Dialogue on Clemency (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and the complete Wikisource transcription. Seneca tells Serenus to have confidence in himself and believe he is proceeding on the right path while defining the steady condition he calls peace of mind.

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“Solitude will cure us when we are sick of crowds, and crowds will cure us when we are sick of solitude.”

Seneca

Meaning & context

Neither isolation nor company is treated as a universal cure; Seneca recommends changing conditions when either extreme becomes mentally exhausting, favoring flexible balance over rigid withdrawal.

Source details

Of Peace of Mind, section XVII, Aubrey Stewart translation (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and Wikisource. Seneca recommends alternating solitude and company so that each corrects weariness with the other, then continues into advice about relaxation and rest.

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“The mind ought in all cases to be called away from the contemplation of external things to that of itself.”

Seneca

Meaning & context

Turning attention back toward the mind does not deny external events; it restores awareness of the judgments and responses that remain available when circumstances cannot be controlled.

Source details

Of Peace of Mind, section XIV, Aubrey Stewart translation (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and Wikisource. Seneca turns attention away from external things toward the mind itself while discussing flexibility under changes of fortune; this is historical Stoic counsel, not modern clinical guidance.

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“Yet nothing sets us free from these alternations of hope and fear so well as always fixing some limit to our successes.”

Seneca

Meaning & context

Seneca links tranquility with limits: endless ambition keeps hope and fear alternating, while defining enough can reduce dependence on uncertain future gains.

Source details

Of Peace of Mind, section X, Aubrey Stewart translation (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and Wikisource. Seneca argues that voluntarily setting limits to success can interrupt the repeated alternation of hope and fear and prevent ambition from expanding without bounds.

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“We ought, however, first to examine our own selves, next the business which we propose to transact, next those for whose sake or in whose company we transact it.”

Seneca

Meaning & context

Before committing to action, Seneca asks for an ordered examination of self, task, and company, treating clear self-knowledge as protection against avoidable agitation and mismatch.

Source details

Of Peace of Mind, section VI, Aubrey Stewart translation (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and Wikisource. Seneca orders practical deliberation as an examination of oneself, the proposed business, and the people for whose sake or in whose company it will be done.

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Seneca’s Stoic dialogue Of Peace of Mind (De Tranquillitate Animi), represented through Aubrey Stewart’s 1889 English translation

Topics and ideas

Translation

Aubrey Stewart — Translator · Latin → English

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6 quotations with source context and meaning

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