The first piece (On the Shortness of Life) was great, with Seneca dissing "preoccupied people" and promoting philosophical study as the best way to spend your life. The letter to his mother about his exile and her grief was interesting, but his advice was basically just to get over it. And the final dialogue about tranquility of the mind just rambled on about the figures of his time. There was lots of timeless wisdom in the collection, though, so it was worthwhile reading.