Notes from Wikiquote
De Providentia (On Providence), 5.9, translated by Aubrey Stewart
Variants
Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men. (translator unknown).
More quotes by Seneca the Younger
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing.
Fortune is less severe against those of lesser degree, and God strikes what is weak with less power.
Nature has given us the seeds of knowledge, not knowledge itself.
All Seneca the Younger quotes →
Attribution
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Seneca the Younger (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.