“You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire.”
— Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
Write your response
Take five minutes with it. No account needed to start, and nobody else can read what you write.
Respond to this passageWhere this comes from
Seneca’s essay to Paulinus on how life is spent rather than how long it lasts.
Seneca. Roman statesman, playwright and adviser to Nero, born around 4 BCE in Córdoba and forced to take his own life in 65 CE. His moral letters were written late, addressed to his friend Lucilius, and are the most practical writing the Stoics left behind.
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“While we wait for life, life passes.”
— Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
“Often a very old man has no other proof of his long life than his age.”
— Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
— Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
“Life is long if you know how to use it.”
— Seneca, On the Shortness of Life