Seneca Warned Us Against This

2,000 years ago, Seneca made a claim so controversial, that’s still being debated today.

He argued that a generous amount of time has been given to us if we know how to use it.

“Why does life seem to pass by so quickly,” Seneca urges us to question ourselves. 

Ambition, giving all our time to others, and engaging in vice are the greatest time, sorry, life killers.

He argues that we have truly lived only a short time because our lives were filled with business and stress. 

In his book, The Shortness of Life, he gives the example of the emperor, Augustus, who was constantly complaining he didn’t have time for himself.

If money, power, and business don’t solve problems and free more time, what good are they?

So how do we regain our time?

It is through studying philosophy, working towards meaningful goals, and not putting off the enjoyment of life, says Seneca.

If you can’t find time to ask the big questions, question where your actions will lead you, and see where your life’s heading, when do you expect to do it?

When you’ll be seventy years old and about to die?

Don’t be the person whose only proof they’ve lived long is the gray hair on their head.

Oh, and by the way…

Just because someone has existed for a long time, that doesn’t mean they have lived a long time.

For the Stoics, when it comes to life, quality always beats quantity.

Thank you,

Said The Stoic