Plain
Seneca — The Senator

When I eat and drink, my goal will be to satisfy nature's needs, not to stuff myself and then empty out again. I will be pleasant with my friends and gentle and kind to my enemies. I will forgive people before they even ask for it, and I will meet good people halfway in their requests. I will remember that the world is my home city, that the gods are its rulers, and that they stand above and around me, watching everything I do or say. When nature calls for my last breath, or when reason tells me it's time to go, I will leave this life. And I will call everyone to witness that I have loved having a good conscience and pursuing good things. No one's freedom — especially not my own — has been damaged because of me.

On the Happy Life, Section 20 66 of 101
Doing The Right Thing Death & Mortality Knowing Yourself
Seneca — The Senator Original

In eating and drinking my object shall be to quench the desires of Nature, not to fill and empty my belly. I will be agreeable with my friends, gentle and mild to my foes: I will grant pardon before I am asked for it, and will meet the wishes of honourable men half way: I will bear in mind that the world is my native city, that its governors are the gods, and that they stand above and around me, criticizing whatever I do or say. Whenever either Nature demands my breath again, or reason bids me dismiss it, I will quit this life, calling all to witness that I have loved a good conscience, and good pursuits; that no one's freedom, my own least of all, has been impaired through me."

On the Happy Life, Section 20 66 of 101
Seneca — The Senator

Whatever I own, I won't hoard it like a miser or waste it carelessly. I'll think of my truest possessions as the things I've given to people who deserved them. I won't judge my good deeds by how big they are or how many I've done. I'll judge them by how much they meant to the person who received them. I'll never think a gift is too generous if it goes to someone worthy. I won't do things to impress other people. I'll do them because my conscience says they're right. Even when I'm completely alone, I'll act as if all of Rome is watching me.

On the Happy Life, Section 20 65 of 101
Doing The Right Thing What Matters Most
Seneca — The Senator Original

Whatever I may possess, I will neither hoard it greedily nor squander it recklessly. I will think that I have no possessions so real as those which I have given away to deserving people: I will not reckon benefits by their magnitude or number, or by anything except the value set upon them by the receiver: I never will consider a gift to be a large one if it be bestowed upon a worthy object. I will do nothing because of public opinion, but everything because of conscience: whenever I do anything alone by myself I will believe that the eyes of the Roman people are upon me while I do it.

On the Happy Life, Section 20 65 of 101
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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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