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Seneca · Moral Letters to Lucilius

Letter 95 — On the Usefulness of Basic Principles (§13)

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People say: “The old-style wisdom advised only what one should do and avoid; and yet the men of former days were better men by far. When savants have appeared, sages have become rare. For that frank, simple virtue has changed into hidden and crafty knowledge; we are taught how to debate, not how to live.”
Seneca·Letter 95 — On the Usefulness of Basic Principles (§13)·trans. Gummere
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