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On: The Shortness Of Life
"It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste
much of it. Life is long enough, and it's been given to us in generous
measure for accomplishing the greatest things, if the whole of it is
well invested. But when life is squandered through soft and careless
living, and when it's spent on no worthwhile pursuit, death finally
presses and we realize that the life which we didn't notice passing
has passed away. So it is: the life we are given isn't short but we
make it so; we're not ill provided but we are wasteful of life. Just as
impressive and princely wealth is squandered in an instant when it
passes into the hands of a poor manager, but wealth however modest
grows through careful deployment if it is entrusted to a responsible
guardian, just so our lifetime offers ample scope to the person who
maps it out well. . . . Life, if you know how to use it, is long."(Lucius Seneca c. 4 BC – AD 65)
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