As in all things, we suffer from excess in reading too. Many books are a burden, not an ornament.
Quemadmodum omnium rerum, sic litterarum quoque intemperantia laboramus.
Philosophers
Seneca
Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD), Stoic philosopher and Nero's advisor, wrote on time, anger, and adversity from the heart of Roman power. His Moral Letters and On the Shortness of Life remain practical self-mastery guides.
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Seneca's Other Quotes
It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it.
Fire tests gold; adversity tests strong people.
It is the quality of your life that matters, not its length.
Anger, if not obeyed, fades; once it enters the mind and pervades habit, vice becomes law.
It is hard to retain what you learn unless you practice it.
Related Quotes
Tranquility arises for human beings from moderation in enjoyment and a balanced life.
-- Democritus
He who would be tranquil should not undertake too many things, either private or public.
-- Democritus
For those who want more, time is never enough.
-- Democritus
The pleasant life is produced not by endless drinking and revelry but by sober reasoning.
-- Epicurus
I fear the man of a single book.
-- Thomas Aquinas
I cannot live without books.
-- Thomas Jefferson