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b612's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
una lunga conversazione sulla fugacità del tempo e su tutte le cose che ci spingono a sprecarlo. Vizi, affaccendamenti, rancori, preoccupazioni, paure, dolori... in parole povere ma forti, Seneca, ci elenca tutti quegli attimi, avvicendamenti e tutti quei pensieri futili come: "quando passerà quest'anno?"
forse poiché spinti dalla fretta di vivere, o permettendomi di citarlo "per poter vivere meglio, organizzando la vita a spese della vita" solo per rammaricarci in seguito di quanto tempo è andato perduto; irrecuperabile.
Non viviamo saggiamente, poiché i saggi sono coloro che lasciano scorrere il tempo ininterrotto, arrestandolo solamente
tramite i ricordi.
vivere tota vita discendum est et, quod magis fortasse miraberis,
tota vita discendum est mori.
"Ci vuole tutta una vita per imparare a vivere, e, ciò che forse ti stupirà di più, ci vuole tutta una vita per imparare a morire."
-Lucio Anneo Seneca
personoftheyear2006's review against another edition
2.75
It had some points… but honestly I feel like its target demographic is not me and I, in fact, would rather receive life advice elsewhere. Especially following bell hooks, this felt out of touch and superfluous for the 21st century.
theraveler's review against another edition
3.0
Mortality has always been an anxiety inducing topic for me. I'm trying to slowly read a few things about it so that it will terrify me less. This short thing was one of them. I found a few reassuring phrases in here and, honestly, a lot of things that have become platitudes since Seneca's time.
The short treatise is a letter to Paulinus, a statesman. Seneca is offering him advice on the nature of life, and the pursuit of a living a good life. Seneca has no time for trivial pursuits - he believes in learning from the past and theories of significance. He doesn't believe in freely giving time to people just because they ask. In today's lingo, he seems like an unplugged, monotaskter. An Ayn Randian/Objectivist 'selfish' person, who values himself and his virtues, and does not believe in spending time in any way other than what he deems worthwhile and valuable.
A few key sentences/paragraphs:
"It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it."
"Why do we complain about nature? It has acted generously: life, if you know how to use it, is long."
"But learning how to live takes a whole lifetime, and - you'll perhaps be more surprised at this - it takes a whole lifetime to learn how to die."
"Life is divided into three parts: past present, and future. Of these, the present is brief, the future doubtful, the past certain. For this last is the category over which fortune no longer has control, and which cannot be brought back under anyone's power. Preoccupied people lose this part; for they have no leisure to look back at the past, and even if they had it, there's no pleasure in recalling something regrettable."
Seneca concludes with extolling the virtues of a life lived liked a scholar - i.e. taking time for oneself in the pursuit of knowledge and philosophy. And woe betide the 'preoccupied' people, or the distracted people, of his age:
"The plight of all preoccupied people is wretched, but most wretched is the plight of those who labor under preoccupations that are not even their own, whose sleep schedule is regulated by someone else's, who walk at somebody else's pace, and who are under instructions in that freest of all activities - loving and hating. If these people want to know how short their life is, let them reflect on how small a part of it is their very own."
In the modern era, this seems basic, but we all get caught up in the affairs of others, social niceties, etc.. It is a good reminder to check in with oneself, your goals, and how you view your life. YOLO.
The short treatise is a letter to Paulinus, a statesman. Seneca is offering him advice on the nature of life, and the pursuit of a living a good life. Seneca has no time for trivial pursuits - he believes in learning from the past and theories of significance. He doesn't believe in freely giving time to people just because they ask. In today's lingo, he seems like an unplugged, monotaskter. An Ayn Randian/Objectivist 'selfish' person, who values himself and his virtues, and does not believe in spending time in any way other than what he deems worthwhile and valuable.
A few key sentences/paragraphs:
"It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it."
"Why do we complain about nature? It has acted generously: life, if you know how to use it, is long."
"But learning how to live takes a whole lifetime, and - you'll perhaps be more surprised at this - it takes a whole lifetime to learn how to die."
"Life is divided into three parts: past present, and future. Of these, the present is brief, the future doubtful, the past certain. For this last is the category over which fortune no longer has control, and which cannot be brought back under anyone's power. Preoccupied people lose this part; for they have no leisure to look back at the past, and even if they had it, there's no pleasure in recalling something regrettable."
Seneca concludes with extolling the virtues of a life lived liked a scholar - i.e. taking time for oneself in the pursuit of knowledge and philosophy. And woe betide the 'preoccupied' people, or the distracted people, of his age:
"The plight of all preoccupied people is wretched, but most wretched is the plight of those who labor under preoccupations that are not even their own, whose sleep schedule is regulated by someone else's, who walk at somebody else's pace, and who are under instructions in that freest of all activities - loving and hating. If these people want to know how short their life is, let them reflect on how small a part of it is their very own."
In the modern era, this seems basic, but we all get caught up in the affairs of others, social niceties, etc.. It is a good reminder to check in with oneself, your goals, and how you view your life. YOLO.