--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Diligence is a very great help even to a…" description: "\"Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. -Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium\" — Seneca the Younger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/seneca-the-younger-219_diligence_diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a_3060706.jpg" --- # Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre… ![“Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. -Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium” quote by Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/seneca-the-younger-219_diligence_diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a_3060706.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/seneca-the-younger-219_diligence_diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a_3060706.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/seneca-the-younger-219_diligence_diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a_3060706.jpg) > “Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. -Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium” [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Diligence aids even modest intellects, enhancing their capabilities. **In simple terms:** Diligence helps mediocre minds. Key Takeaway Cultivate disciplined effort. Themes virtue intelligence effort Mood thoughtful instructive Type ethical practical When to use this quote - Study habits - skill development - daily routines Key Concepts self‑improvement philosophical practice Questions to Reflect On - How can you apply diligence daily? - What obstacles hinder your focus? A Different Perspective Effort alone may not overcome structural barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Diligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diligence/) [Diligence Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diligence-great-2788387/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Intelligence Diligentia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence-diligentia-5132244/) [Maximum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maximum/) [Mediocre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocre/) [Mediocre Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocre-intelligence-2538272/) [Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocrity/) ## Related quotes > [“Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium - Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca/diligentia-maximum-etiam-mediocris-ingeni-subsidium-diligence-is-a/) [Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca/) > [Diligence is a great teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/diligence-is-a-great-teacher/) [Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverb/) > [The easiest and quickest path into the esteem of traditional military authorities is by the appeal to the eye, rather than to the mind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-easiest-and-quickest-path-into-the-esteem-of-traditional-military/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [“His eyes had something dull about them, expressionless, the bored look of a mediocre intelligence that wrongly supposes it has “seen it all before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-koch/his-eyes-had-something-dull-about-them-expressionless-the-bored-look/) [Herman Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-koch/) > [“mediocre amount of intelligence is sometimes most dangerous. It does not take one far enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/mediocre-amount-of-intelligence-is-sometimes-most-dangerous-it-does/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [To be mediocre, when only application and diligence would have netted superiority, is an error akin to sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/to-be-mediocre-when-only-application-and-diligence-would-have-netted/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [There is nothing which persevering effort and unceasing and diligent care cannot accomplish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-which-persevering-effort-and-unceasing-and-diligent/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [In the corporate world, if you have analysts, due diligence, and no horse sense, you've just described hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/in-the-corporate-world-if-you-have-analysts-due-diligence-and-no/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/diligence-above-all-is-the-mother-of-good-luck/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“Diligence does not work if there is a lack of innate talent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-stone/diligence-does-not-work-if-there-is-a-lack-of-innate-talent/) [Irving Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-stone/) > [Watch yourself with all diligence, lest the enemy steals near and robs you, depriving you of this great treasure, which is inner peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-scupoli/watch-yourself-with-all-diligence-lest-the-enemy-steals-near-and-robs/) [Lorenzo Scupoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-scupoli/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [“Anytime I see a rainbow, what comes into my mind is how skillful and talented someone was to create an ark that didn't leak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/anytime-i-see-a-rainbow-what-comes-into-my-mind-is-how-skillful-and/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) ## More by Seneca the Younger > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [It is for the superfluous we sweat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-for-the-superfluous-we-sweat/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears; the effect of precepts is therefore slow and tedious, whilst that of examples is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/men-trust-rather-to-their-eyes-than-to-their-ears-the-effect-of/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/a-great-step-towards-independence-is-a-good-humored-stomach-one-that/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Men can be divided into 2 groups: one that goes ahead and achieves something, and one that comes after and criticizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/men-can-be-divided-into-2-groups-one-that-goes-ahead-and-achieves/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/leisure-without-study-is-death-and-the-grave-of-a-living-man/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Such as the chain of causes we call Fate, such is the chain of wishes: one links on to another; the whole man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/such-as-the-chain-of-causes-we-call-fate-such-is-the-chain-of-wishes/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [To rule yourself is the ultimate power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/to-rule-yourself-is-the-ultimate-power/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The road by precepts is tedious, by example, short and efficacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-road-by-precepts-is-tedious-by-example-short-and-efficacious/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Misfortune is the test of a person's merit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/misfortune-is-the-test-of-a-person-s-merit/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [He who does not want to die should not want to live. For life is tendered to us with the proviso of death. Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/he-who-does-not-want-to-die-should-not-want-to-live-for-life-is/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Let us not seek our disease out of ourselves; 'tis in us, and planted in our bowels; and the mere fact that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/let-us-not-seek-our-disease-out-of-ourselves-tis-in-us-and-planted-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [After death there is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/after-death-there-is-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Adversity finds at last the man whom she has often passed by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/adversity-finds-at-last-the-man-whom-she-has-often-passed-by/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Hesitation is the best cure for anger. The first blows of anger are heavy, but if it waits, it will think again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/hesitation-is-the-best-cure-for-anger-the-first-blows-of-anger-are/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) [Explore all 872 Seneca the Younger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## More Diligence quotes > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [“Anytime I see a rainbow, what comes into my mind is how skillful and talented someone was to create an ark that didn't leak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/anytime-i-see-a-rainbow-what-comes-into-my-mind-is-how-skillful-and/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [Watch yourself with all diligence, lest the enemy steals near and robs you, depriving you of this great treasure, which is inner peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-scupoli/watch-yourself-with-all-diligence-lest-the-enemy-steals-near-and-robs/) [Lorenzo Scupoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-scupoli/) > [“Diligence does not work if there is a lack of innate talent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-stone/diligence-does-not-work-if-there-is-a-lack-of-innate-talent/) [Irving Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-stone/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/diligence-above-all-is-the-mother-of-good-luck/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [In the corporate world, if you have analysts, due diligence, and no horse sense, you've just described hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/in-the-corporate-world-if-you-have-analysts-due-diligence-and-no/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [LAOCOON, n. A famous piece of antique scripture representing a priest of that name and his two sons in the folds of two enormous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/laocoon-n-a-famous-piece-of-antique-scripture-representing-a-priest/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in. and the best of me is diligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/that-which-ordinary-men-are-fit-for-i-am-qualified-in-and-the-best-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [ If he \[Thomas Edison\] had a needle to find in a haystack, he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/if-he-thomas-edison-had-a-needle-to-find-in-a-haystack-he-would-not/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [Building our homes as fortresses of righteousness for protection from the world takes constant labor and diligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/building-our-homes-as-fortresses-of-righteousness-for-protection-from/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [People underestimate the importance of dilligence as a virtue. No doubt it has something to do with how supremely mundane it seems. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/people-underestimate-the-importance-of-dilligence-as-a-virtue-no/) [Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/) > [What the world needs is not dogma but an attitude of scientific inquiry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/what-the-world-needs-is-not-dogma-but-an-attitude-of-scientific/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Go out of the house to see the moon, and 't is mere tinsel; it will not please as when its light shines upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/go-out-of-the-house-to-see-the-moon-and-t-is-mere-tinsel-it-will-not/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Browse all 360 Diligence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diligence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. -Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seneca the Younger" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a-mediocre-intelligence/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Diligence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a-mediocre-intelligence/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/seneca-the-younger-219_diligence_diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a_3060706.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/seneca-the-younger-219_diligence_diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a_3060706.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/seneca-the-younger-219_diligence_diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a_3060706.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. -Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni…” — Seneca the Younger", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Seneca the Younger", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Diligence is a very great help...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a-mediocre-intelligence/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/diligence-is-a-very-great-help-even-to-a-mediocre-intelligence/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```