(source)
|
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
(c. 4 B.C. - 65)
Roman philosopher who was tutor to the young Nero, and adviser to Emperor Nero for five years. Later, in disfavour, he died by suicide at Nero's command.
|
Science Quotes by Lucius Annaeus Seneca (9 quotes)
Quaedam remedia graviora ipsis periculis sunt.
Some cures are worse than the dangers they combat.
Some cures are worse than the dangers they combat.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Controversiae, 6.7. In M. Winterbottom (ed.), The Elder Seneca (1974), Vol. 1, 520.
God has not revealed all things to man and has entrusted us with but a fragment of His mighty work. But He who directs all things, who has established and laid the foundation of the world, who has clothed Himself with Creation, He is greater and better than that which He has wrought. Hidden from our eyes, He can only be reached by the spirit.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
From Quaestiones Naturales as translated in Charles Singer, From Magic to Science (1958), 57.
How many discoveries are reserved for the ages to come when our memory shall be no more, for this world of ours contains matter for investigation for all generations.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
From Quaestiones Naturales as translated in Charles Singer, From Magic to Science (1958), 57.
If you are surprised at the number of our maladies, count our cooks.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
In Noble Words and Noble Deeds (1877), 239.
On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
From Quaestiones Naturales as translated in Charles Singer, From Magic to Science (1958), 57.
Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other; yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely; for science is but one.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
In Henry Southgate (ed.), Many Thoughts of Many Minds (1862), 340.
The pleasures of the palate deal with us like Egyptian thieves who strangle those whom they embrace.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
In Louis Klopsch, Many Thoughts of Many Minds (1896), 110.
There are many things akin to highest deity that are still obscure. Some may be too subtle for our powers of comprehension, others imperceptible to us because such exalted majesty conceals itself in the holiest part of its sanctuary, forbidding access to any power save that of the spirit. How many heavenly bodies revolve unseen by human eye!
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
From Quaestiones Naturales as translated in Charles Singer, From Magic to Science (1958), 57.
When you enter some grove, peopled with ancient trees, such as are higher than ordinary, and whose boughs are so closely interwoven that you cannot see the sky; the stately loftiness of the wood, the privacy of the place, and the awful gloom, cannot but strike you, as with the presence of a deity.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Epistle LXI, 'On The God Within Us', The Epistles of Lucius Annĉus Seneca trans. Thomas Morell (1786), Vol. 1, 142. Also translated by Richard Mott Gummere (1916) as “If ever you come upon a grove of ancient trees which have grown to an exceptional height, shutting out a view of sky by a veil of pleached and intertwining branches, then the loftiness of the forest, the seclusion of the spot and your marvel at the thick unbroken shade in the midst of the open spaces, will prove to you the presence of deity.”
At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes--an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense. -- Carl Sagan
