I just started getting into reading philosophy and self help books. It's quite amazing how these people were so ahead of their time in terms of thinking. Seneca makes some great points. I like how he brings up the preoccupied people who are only concerned with the present, who don't realize how long they have until it's too late because they never realize how much time has passed and the uncertainty of the future. It's like pouring water in a cup with no bottom. How can you know how much water was poured when it isn't filling up but instead going right through the cup? At the same time, how do you know when the water will cease to flow? That's why it's so important to keep perspective of time. Don't just live in the moment. Understand the context of the moment. He stresses the importance of examining your past because it is solidified and unchangeable. There, you are able to observe those things you did well and those you didn't do well, so that you can make changes in the present to live a more productive and efficient life. He sums it up very astutely and simplistically with the little poem, "Life's finest day for wretched mortals here Is always first to flee."

I also liked the quote from page 27 when he says "we lose the day in waiting for the night and the night in fearing for the dawn." He is saying we are waiting for the perfect moment, or the moment of joy and pleasure. But in waiting we lose all the time preceding that moment. And as soon as the moment comes we fear it's end. It's a constant vicious cycle and we can never win.

Another great quote is on page 5 when he says "the greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. Very powerful insight. It's like we're waiting and waiting and hoping whatever we want comes our way, but in doing that, we lose the time at hand. Plus, waiting and hoping something works out is putting your money on the future which is uncertain. That's why expecting something to happen is not enough, because you're betting on luck instead of making it happen through the action you take. As Abraham Lincoln said, "the best way to predict the future is to create it."

There are many great quotes but the last one I will share is on page 56 when he says "No man is despised by another unless he is first despised by himself. An object and debased mind is susceptible to such insult; but if a man stirs himself to face the worst of disasters and defeats the evils which overwhelm others, then he wears those very sorrows like a sacred badge. For we are naturally disposed to admire more than anything else the man who shows fortitude in adversity." I think what he's basically saying is that you need to love yourself before anyone else can love you. People will show you the amount of love in proportion to the amount of love you give yourself. The two quotes that come to mind that relate are "those who stand for nothing will fall for anything" and "if there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm." If you conquer the worst of your fears, the same fears that destroys others, then you will take pride in the very thing that you feared, and people will admire and respect that you had the guts to face it, instead of chastising and scorning you. So you should feel no shame in your problems for they are the very thing that will earn you the admiration of others if you are able to conquer them, but more importantly, it will strengthen you and help you grow as a person. His other quote that piggy backs off that is "If a great man falls and remains great as he lies, people no more despise him than they stamp on a fallen temple, which the devout still warship as much as when it was standing." In other words, it's not about what happens to you or how you fall, but about how your react and carry yourself, and your character, that will resonate with others. Anyway these are just some examples of the bits of wisdom Seneca offers. Overall, there is some timeless wisdom in his essay and I believe it is worth your time to read it.

Powerful short book about how much of life we’re wasting. The historical examples are interesting but, for a book this short, it feels a bit repetitive. However, I would still recommend it as it’s so quick to read anyway.

This book came highly recommended by Maria Popova. A beautiful book!

I was first introduced to Seneca and Stoicism through the Philosophy Module as part of the curriculum for Praxis, a startup apprenticeship program. The entire module was such a refreshing take on philosophy since it was designed for entrepreneurial-minded young people and therefore emphasized learning philosophy in a practical manner. Once I discovered Seneca, I immediately sought out his content which led me to On the Shortness of Life, which I now try to pick back up at least once a year. Usually at the end of the year when I tend to be more reflective.

Philosophy is supposed to, more than anything else, teach us how to live better lives. On the Shortness of Life is my favorite introductory material to figuring out how to do just that.

The core takeaway is simple. Be mindful of and purposeful with your time.

Time is our most precious commodity and it is too easy to lose sight of it while we go through our daily routines of work, family, and social life plus all the little distractions that tend to fill up the day up. We become preoccupied with interpersonal drama and day-to-day stresses that our lives quickly go by and before you know it we end up old men with much regret.

Seneca's suggested fixes are 1. Awareness and 2. Acceptance.

We need to be aware of how we spend our time and ideally anticipate how best to spend it in the present and future. Again, most of us spend it unwisely as if it's more plentiful than it actually is.

Acceptance is key to how we think about death. We tend to avoid confronting the fact that we're going to die, which builds up a lot of anxiety about it. Seneca discusses how learning how to die is just as important as learning how to live. We die well by accepting the fact we're going to die and not hiding from it. This will naturally lead to a great appreciation for the time we have which will lead to taking more purposefully action instead of filling up the day with too much idle preoccupation.

There's plenty more to think through in the book. I highly recommend picking it up. I can't think of a person who could not benefit from reading it. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from it.

"Life is short, art is long."

"But you never deign to look at yourself or listen to yourself. So you have no reason to claim credit from anyone for those attentions, since you showed them not because you wanted someone else's company but because you could not bear your own."

"But learning how to live takes a whole life, and, which may surprise you more, it takes a whole life to learn how to die."

"Just as it is no use pouring any amount of liquid into a container without a bottom to catch and hold it, so it does not matter how much time we are given if there is nowhere for it to settle;"

A nice quick short read that emphasizes folks need to make the best of their time. Several gems come from book, even though it was penned in 65. Yep we’re talking almost 2000 years ago. Urges people to live as if time is finite it’s the most precious thing you have. I’m sure I’ll return to this book again if I’m in need of a reminder on the shortness of life.

This was the first book I have read about Stoicism. I find this topic really interesting and appreciated that this was a short, easy, yet eye-opening read. I believe anyone could take away a great lesson from this book. This made me realize that I am at times guilty of not reflecting on the past. One of my favorite quotes was "In truth, no matter how long you live, even if you were to live a thousand years, your life can be compressed into a few fleeting moments if you let your vices consume you.

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"One the Shortness of Life" is a philosophical / moral essay authored by the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca sometime after the death of Caligula, probably around 49 A.D. It is not a lengthy work. It takes the form of a correspondence addressed to an individual named Paulinus. Basically it explains the importance of not wasting time on things that do not matter and focusing on what does matter. I am glad that I read the work.

Speaking for myself, the most important part of the work is from the perspective of historical study. The essay itself is relatively brief. I have been engaged in a study of Roman and Italian history. Therefore I took the time to look up every individual and other reference in the essay. From that standpoint I learned a good deal. I also wanted to know something of Seneca and read something that he had authored. This work fulfills those needs. From that prospective, I had approximately the same experience with "The Prince" and ultimately with a much longer, heavily annotated "Divine Comedy".

This work can be read in a short amount of time. It makes sense, but no more to me than other works or authors. It really suited me as yet another piece in a metamorphical Italian historical jig saw puzzle. Thank You...

The author is the father of Roman Stoicism. His brand of this philosophy values a code of ethics that focus on living the present, without fear of pain and sorrow, and without attributing much importance to joyful, yet fleeting, desires. The past is gone and cannot be changed, the future is unknown and potentially too short to do what one thinks should be done. 

So, you do it now. 

You live your ideals now. 

You do good now. 

Don't waste time in regret for what has passed, or in anticipation or fear of what is to come. 

Your Time is only Now. 

You learn from the past, for your present's sake; and you don't busy yourself with matters of the future that could steal it (the present) from you.

Since one's life is too short, one has expand it with many lifetimes, but has to make them count: he advised you and me to learn what great thinkers before us learned in their own short lives. (He recommended the company of past philosophers and their works)

A very sobering advice on life, from a man who cheated death, and came to teach us 2 thousand years after his own "shoet" life.

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Quotes from the book:

You have all the fears of mortals and all the desires of immortals.

In guarding their fortune men are often close-fisted, yet, when it comes to the matter of wasting time, in the case of the one thing in which it is right to be miserly, they show themselves most prodigal.

They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.

Envy works upon what is close at hand, and things that are far off we are more free to admire

Moreover, what is doomed to perish brings pleasure to no one;  very wretched, therefore, and not merely short, must the life of those be who work hard to gain what they must work harder to keep.

By great toil they attain what they wish, and with anxiety hold what they have attained; meanwhile they take no account of time that will never more return.  New engrossments take the place of the old, hope leads to new hope, ambition to new ambition.

Reasons for anxiety will never be lacking, whether born of prosperity or of wretchedness; life pushes on in a succession of engrossments.  We shall always pray for leisure, but never enjoy it.

Now while the blood is hot, we must enter with brisk step upon the better course. In this kind of life there awaits much that is good to know -the love and practice of the virtues, forgetfulness of the passions, knowledge of living and dying, and a life of deep repose

Despite being written nearly 2000 years ago, Seneca feels as fresh and as relevant as any modern or recent philosopher, and a good deal more practical. Every page is studded with gems that defy expectation, and give the lie to any notions one might have about the ancients being somehow primitive (an easy intuition to fall into).

This is the book that, above all others, has marked, and continues to mark my life and thinking. Seneca is right, “the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it”, and that many people are far too engrossed in others’ realities to do much of what one might truly call living.

Read this, and preferably while you are as young as possible, or else it will likely be painful when you do.

This is the best translation in my option, and the more modern ones lose some of the poetic beauty of his prose.

Good book but ordered a new version. This one is old English.

very good

I find this topic very interesting, and I appreciate greatly the work behind this works of art, pieces of knowledge that everybody should consider reading, to reinterpret and reflect upon life. It is quite a challenge for me, its unique old-fashioned writing style can make you read twice before comprehending, so I advice everyone to do it with an online dictionary in front of them, not only you are going to read a complete masterpiece that will make you question in what you aim for in life but among the journey you will discover new, enrichened vocabulary.

excellent