Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides.
In plain words
People who discovered things before you are guides to learn from, not rulers to obey.
Where these words come from
- 92% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 33 'On the Futility of Learning Maxims' (c. 63-65 CE), Gummere translation (Loeb Classical Library, 1917), Wikisource text.
- Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 33
- c. 65 CE · Rome · philosophical letter to Lucilius
More from Seneca
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SenecaAll art is but imitation of nature.SenecaIt is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.SenecaMen learn while they teach.SenecaIt is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.SenecaNo good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.SenecaMore on individuality
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.
J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.
Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.Judy Garland