Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger, l. 4 BCE - 65 CE) was a Roman author, playwright, orator, and most importantly a tutor and advisor to the Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 CE). Influenced by Stoic philosophy, he wrote several philosophical treatises and 124 letters on moral issues, the Epistulae Morales (Moral Epistles). As Nero's tutor, he tried to pass on his philosophy of a virtuous life, and with the help of the prefect of the Pretorian Guard, Burrus, he tried to keep Nero's indulgences under control. Despite his best efforts and falsely accused of being part of a plot to assassinate the emperor, he was ordered to commit suicide by the increasingly paranoid Nero.

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”

― Seneca