Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.
Seneca The YoungerRead
To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.
Interpretation
Enduring criticism is essential for those seeking power.
Seneca the Younger highlights the importance of resilience in the face of negativity when pursuing power and influence. The ability to withstand disdain and criticism is a fundamental skill for anyone who aspires to leadership, suggesting that adversity is an inherent part of the journey towards authority and success.
In practice
In a motivational speech about leadership, one might say, 'As Seneca the Younger wisely noted, to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.'
Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.
No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley.
Slavery takes hold of few, but many take hold of slavery.
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.
Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart.
We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.
But perhaps when you were too obedient, and did not do openly what others did, and were quiet in church and hard-working at school, then some unknown rebellion brewed in you, doing harm to you, though how I do not understand.
Being true to yourself really means being true to all the complexities of the human spirit.
There is no royal road to anything. One thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows fast, withers as rapidly. That which grows slowly, endures.
Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
What we get from each moment depends on the attention we give it, and the quality of our experience reflects the quality of our awareness.
Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions.
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