Skip to content

The whole world would have been destroyed if compassion did not put an end to anger.

— Seneca the Elder

Perierat totus orbis, nisi iram finiret misericordia.

Another quote →

Notes from Wikiquote

Book I, Chapter I; slightly modified translation from Michael Winterbottom, Declamations of the Elder Seneca (London: Heinemann, 1974) vol. 1 p. 33

Topics

Anger

More quotes by Seneca the Elder

It is the sign of a great spirit to be moderate in prosperity.

The entire world would perish, if pity were not to limit anger.

Dignity increases more easily than it begins.

It is wrong not to give a hand to the fallen; this law is universal to the whole human race.

Some laws are not written, but are more decisive than any written law.

All Seneca the Elder quotes →

You may also like

Do you know how you make someone into a Dalek? Subtract Love, add Anger.

Steven Moffat

There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.

Patrick Rothfuss The Name of the Wind (2007)

Never forget what a man has said to you when he was angry.

Henry Ward Beecher Life Thoughts (1858)

An unsanctified temper is a fruitful source of error, and a mighty impediment to truth.

Elias Lyman Magoon Proverbs for the People (1849)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Seneca the Elder (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.