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Free Ebook On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It (Penguin Great Ideas)
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About the Author
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, statesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born at Cordoba in Spain around 4 BC. He rose to prominence in Rome, pursuing a career in the courts and political life, for which he had been trained, while also acquiring celebrity as an author of tragedies and essays. Falling foul of successive emperors (Caligula in AD 39 and Claudius in AD 41), he spent eight years in exile, allegedly for an affair with Caligula’s sister. Recalled in AD 49, he was made praetor and was appointed tutor to the boy who was to become, in AD 54, the emperor Nero. On Nero’s succession, Seneca acted for some eight years as an unofficial chief minister. The early part of this reign was remembered as a period of sound government, for which the main credit seems due to Seneca. His control over Nero declined as enemies turned the emperor against him with representations that his popularity made him a danger, or with accusations of immorality or excessive wealth. Retiring from public life he devoted his last three years to philosophy and writing, particularly the Letters to Lucilius. In AD 65 following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, in which he was thought to be implicated, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide. His fame as an essayist and dramatist lasted until two or three centuries ago, when he passed into literary oblivion, from which the twentieth century has seen a considerable recovery.
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
On the Shortness of LifeMost human beings, Paulinus,* complain about the meanness of nature, because we are born for a brief span of life, and because this spell of time that has been given to us rushes by so swiftly and rapidly that with very few exceptions life ceases for the rest of us just when we are getting ready for it. Nor is it just the man in the street and the unthinking mass of people who groan over this - as they see it - universal evil: the same feeling lies behind complaints from even distinguished men. Hence the dictum of the greatest of doctors:† 'Life is short, art is long.' Hence too the grievance, most improper to a wise man, which Aristotle expressed when he was taking nature to task for indulging animals with such long existences that they can live through five or ten human lifetimes, while a far shorter limit is set for men who are born to a great and extensive destiny. It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.* A friend of Seneca’s.† Hippocrates
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Product details
Series: Penguin Great Ideas
Paperback: 105 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; 1 edition (September 6, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780143036326
ISBN-13: 978-0143036326
ASIN: 0143036327
Product Dimensions:
4.4 x 0.3 x 7.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.6 out of 5 stars
202 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#14,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
One of the most insightful books I have ever read.Seneca, being one of the better known philosophers at the time, delves into our thoughts as well as others thoughts from across the generations. Even though his musings were made back in the early 1st century, he still had valid points. My favorite take-away from this book: "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." He does what any good philosopher is supposed to do: make you think. How quick are we to dismiss someone who is asking us for $100, while we will gladly give away an afternoon at an event that we did not want to attend?We all have birth certificates, so we know how long we have existed, but how much of that time is actually spent living? Also, if we knew what the other end was, our death date, how differently would we live? If we knew that we only had 50,000 hours left on earth, how stingy would we be with our time?I reread this book all the time.
I was first introduced to Seneca and Stoicism through the Philosophy Module as part of the curriculum for Praxis, a startup apprenticeship program. The entire module was such a refreshing take on philosophy since it was designed for entrepreneurial-minded young people and therefore emphasized learning philosophy in a practical manner. Once I discovered Seneca, I immediately sought out his content which led me to On the Shortness of Life, which I now try to pick back up at least once a year. Usually at the end of the year when I tend to be more reflective.Philosophy is supposed to, more than anything else, teach us how to live better lives. On the Shortness of Life is my favorite introductory material to figuring out how to do just that.The core takeaway is simple. Be mindful of and purposeful with your time.Time is our most precious commodity and it is too easy to lose sight of it while we go through our daily routines of work, family, and social life plus all the little distractions that tend to fill up the day up. We become preoccupied with interpersonal drama and day-to-day stresses that our lives quickly go by and before you know it we end up old men with much regret.Seneca's suggested fixes are 1. Awareness and 2. Acceptance.We need to be aware of how we spend our time and ideally anticipate how best to spend it in the present and future. Again, most of us spend it unwisely as if it's more plentiful than it actually is.Acceptance is key to how we think about death. We tend to avoid confronting the fact that we're going to die, which builds up a lot of anxiety about it. Seneca discusses how learning how to die is just as important as learning how to live. We die well by accepting the fact we're going to die and not hiding from it. This will naturally lead to a great appreciation for the time we have which will lead to taking more purposefully action instead of filling up the day with too much idle preoccupation.There's plenty more to think through in the book. I highly recommend picking it up. I can't think of a person who could not benefit from reading it. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from it."Life is short, art is long.""But you never deign to look at yourself or listen to yourself. So you have no reason to claim credit from anyone for those attentions, since you showed them not because you wanted someone else's company but because you could not bear your own.""But learning how to live takes a whole life, and, which may surprise you more, it takes a whole life to learn how to die.""Just as it is no use pouring any amount of liquid into a container without a bottom to catch and hold it, so it does not matter how much time we are given if there is nowhere for it to settle;"
I just started getting into reading philosophy and self help books. It's quite amazing how these people were so ahead of their time in terms of thinking. Seneca makes some great points. I like how he brings up the preoccupied people who are only concerned with the present, who don't realize how long they have until it's too late because they never realize how much time has passed and the uncertainty of the future. It's like pouring water in a cup with no bottom. How can you know how much water was poured when it isn't filling up but instead going right through the cup? At the same time, how do you know when the water will cease to flow? That's why it's so important to keep perspective of time. Don't just live in the moment. Understand the context of the moment. He stresses the importance of examining your past because it is solidified and unchangeable. There, you are able to observe those things you did well and those you didn't do well, so that you can make changes in the present to live a more productive and efficient life. He sums it up very astutely and simplistically with the little poem, "Life's finest day for wretched mortals here Is always first to flee."I also liked the quote from page 27 when he says "we lose the day in waiting for the night and the night in fearing for the dawn." He is saying we are waiting for the perfect moment, or the moment of joy and pleasure. But in waiting we lose all the time preceding that moment. And as soon as the moment comes we fear it's end. It's a constant vicious cycle and we can never win.Another great quote is on page 5 when he says "the greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. Very powerful insight. It's like we're waiting and waiting and hoping whatever we want comes our way, but in doing that, we lose the time at hand. Plus, waiting and hoping something works out is putting your money on the future which is uncertain. That's why expecting something to happen is not enough, because you're betting on luck instead of making it happen through the action you take. As Abraham Lincoln said, "the best way to predict the future is to create it."There are many great quotes but the last one I will share is on page 56 when he says "No man is despised by another unless he is first despised by himself. An object and debased mind is susceptible to such insult; but if a man stirs himself to face the worst of disasters and defeats the evils which overwhelm others, then he wears those very sorrows like a sacred badge. For we are naturally disposed to admire more than anything else the man who shows fortitude in adversity." I think what he's basically saying is that you need to love yourself before anyone else can love you. People will show you the amount of love in proportion to the amount of love you give yourself. The two quotes that come to mind that relate are "those who stand for nothing will fall for anything" and "if there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm." If you conquer the worst of your fears, the same fears that destroys others, then you will take pride in the very thing that you feared, and people will admire and respect that you had the guts to face it, instead of chastising and scorning you. So you should feel no shame in your problems for they are the very thing that will earn you the admiration of others if you are able to conquer them, but more importantly, it will strengthen you and help you grow as a person. His other quote that piggy backs off that is "If a great man falls and remains great as he lies, people no more despise him than they stamp on a fallen temple, which the devout still warship as much as when it was standing." In other words, it's not about what happens to you or how you fall, but about how your react and carry yourself, and your character, that will resonate with others. Anyway these are just some examples of the bits of wisdom Seneca offers. Overall, there is some timeless wisdom in his essay and I believe it is worth your time to read it.
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