2.75

At first I thought if you have read one stoic you know them all, but as I read I found much pleasure in the book. 

Seneca explain what happens to your life, why it seems short and hollow, how you can make the best of it. His advice is compelling, but it implies position: I am not my brother’s keeper. As far as I know this has never led to the good.

Since I have read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius one question have been bothering me. Why two great stoics who get prominency in Roman politics had no lasting impact on Empire. They appeared before the major crises and did not address their causes. After this book I have an answer.

You’d probably want everyone in your city to read the book, but certainly not the mayor. 

It is like a treatise on how to live, how to be, with deliberations on the most common human struggles that assail us. So many incredible insights here. Seneca was a wise and enlightened being for sure. My only complaint, as usual with Seneca's work, is that it can seem patronising. He writes as if he were lecturing you, droning on continuously. But other than that, such a great read and I cannot wait to annotate my highlights.

Very short pamphlet concentrating Seneca’s views on urgency into 40 pages. Why do we worry so much more about giving some money than an hour of our time? Our time is so, so, so valuable.