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A review by jlhutch
On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long If You Know How to Use It by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
5.0
Three short letters:
1. On the Shortness of Life-(Is what it says it is, Seneca commenting on the shortness of life and how "Life is long if you know how to use it.")
2. Consolation to Helvia-(This is a letter to his mother around the time when he is being exiled to Corsica. In part it is an explanation of why his circumstances aren't that bad, but it is mostly explaining to his mother how to handle the grief of being separated from her son.)
3. On Tranquility of Mind-(A letter from Seneca to one of his friends Serenus reflecting upon how to live a peaceful life.)
Some of my favorite quotes/ideas:
IN REGARDS TO MONEY:
"You will find no one willing to share out his money; but to how many does each of us divide up his life! People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy."
"Look at those whose good fortune people gather to see: they are choked by their own blessings."
"You really must consider how small your bodies are. Is it not madness and the worst form of derangement to want so much though you can hold so little?"
"Nothing satisfies greed, but even little satisfies nature."
SHORTNESS OF LIFE:
"That very day which you are devoting to somebody or something may be your last."
"But the man who spends all his time on his own needs, who organizes every day as though it were his last, neither longs for nor fears the next day."
"The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today."
"By the toils of others we are led into the presence of things which have been brought from darkness into light. We are excluded from no age, but we have access to them all"
TRANQUILITY:
"It is the mind which is tranquil and free from care which can roam through all the stages of its life."
"As soon as their preoccupations fail them, they are restless with nothing to do, not knowing how to dispose of their leisure or make the time pass."
STEADFASTNESS:
"Fortune falls heavily on those to whom she is unexpected; the man who is always expecting her easily withstands her."
"For how little have we lost, when the two finest things of all will accompany us wherever we go, universal nature and our individual virtue."
"In no respect has nature put us more in her debt, since, knowing to what sorrows we were born, she contrived habit to soothe our disasters, and so quickly grow used to the worst ills."
PEOPLE:
"But if we shun all society and, abandoning the human race, live for ourselves alone, this isolation, devoid of any interest, will be followed by a dearth of worthwhile activity."
"We must take a careful look first at ourselves, then at the activities which we shall be attempting, and then at those for whose sake and with whom we are attempting them."
"a companion who is agitated and groaning about everything is an enemy to peace of mind"
"What can happen to one can happen to all."
DEATH:
“The man who fears death will never do anything worthy of a man who is alive; but he who knows that these were the conditions drawn up for him when he was conceived will live according to this rule and at the same time, through the same strength of mind, he will ensure that none of what happens to him will come unexpectedly.”
"It is more civilized to make fun of life rather than bewail it."
OVERALL:
Don't get caught up in novelty. Strike a balance between time with others and time on your own, each one is the antidote for the other. Life is long if you know how to use it. Take refuge in your mind and prepare yourself for all the possibilities. A strong mind cannot be upset by circumstance.
1. On the Shortness of Life-(Is what it says it is, Seneca commenting on the shortness of life and how "Life is long if you know how to use it.")
2. Consolation to Helvia-(This is a letter to his mother around the time when he is being exiled to Corsica. In part it is an explanation of why his circumstances aren't that bad, but it is mostly explaining to his mother how to handle the grief of being separated from her son.)
3. On Tranquility of Mind-(A letter from Seneca to one of his friends Serenus reflecting upon how to live a peaceful life.)
Some of my favorite quotes/ideas:
IN REGARDS TO MONEY:
"You will find no one willing to share out his money; but to how many does each of us divide up his life! People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy."
"Look at those whose good fortune people gather to see: they are choked by their own blessings."
"You really must consider how small your bodies are. Is it not madness and the worst form of derangement to want so much though you can hold so little?"
"Nothing satisfies greed, but even little satisfies nature."
SHORTNESS OF LIFE:
"That very day which you are devoting to somebody or something may be your last."
"But the man who spends all his time on his own needs, who organizes every day as though it were his last, neither longs for nor fears the next day."
"The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today."
"By the toils of others we are led into the presence of things which have been brought from darkness into light. We are excluded from no age, but we have access to them all"
TRANQUILITY:
"It is the mind which is tranquil and free from care which can roam through all the stages of its life."
"As soon as their preoccupations fail them, they are restless with nothing to do, not knowing how to dispose of their leisure or make the time pass."
STEADFASTNESS:
"Fortune falls heavily on those to whom she is unexpected; the man who is always expecting her easily withstands her."
"For how little have we lost, when the two finest things of all will accompany us wherever we go, universal nature and our individual virtue."
"In no respect has nature put us more in her debt, since, knowing to what sorrows we were born, she contrived habit to soothe our disasters, and so quickly grow used to the worst ills."
PEOPLE:
"But if we shun all society and, abandoning the human race, live for ourselves alone, this isolation, devoid of any interest, will be followed by a dearth of worthwhile activity."
"We must take a careful look first at ourselves, then at the activities which we shall be attempting, and then at those for whose sake and with whom we are attempting them."
"a companion who is agitated and groaning about everything is an enemy to peace of mind"
"What can happen to one can happen to all."
DEATH:
“The man who fears death will never do anything worthy of a man who is alive; but he who knows that these were the conditions drawn up for him when he was conceived will live according to this rule and at the same time, through the same strength of mind, he will ensure that none of what happens to him will come unexpectedly.”
"It is more civilized to make fun of life rather than bewail it."
OVERALL:
Don't get caught up in novelty. Strike a balance between time with others and time on your own, each one is the antidote for the other. Life is long if you know how to use it. Take refuge in your mind and prepare yourself for all the possibilities. A strong mind cannot be upset by circumstance.