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    On the Shortness of Life: A New Translation
    On the Shortness of Life: A New Translation
    On the Shortness of Life: A New Translation
    Ebook60 pages56 minutes

    On the Shortness of Life: A New Translation

    By Seneca

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    About this ebook

    Life is long if you know how to use it.

    From the author of Letters from a Stoic, comes another brilliant, timeless guide to living well. Written as a moral essay to his friend Paulinus, Seneca’s biting words still pack a powerful punch two thousand years later. With its brash rejection of materialism, conventional lifestyles and group-think, On the Shortness of Life is as relevant as ever. Seneca anticipates the modern world. It’s a unique expose of how people get caught up in the rat race and how for those stuck in this mindset, enough is never enough. The ‘busy’ individuals of Rome Seneca makes reference to, those people who are too preoccupied with their careers and maintaining social relationships to fully examine the quality of their lives, sound a lot like ourselves.

    The message is simple: Life is long if you live it wisely. Don’t waste time worrying about how you look. Don’t be lazy. Don’t over indulge in entertainment and vice. Everything in moderation.

    Seneca defends Nature and attacks the lazy. Materialism and a love of trivial knowledge are exposed as key time wasters, along with excess ambition, networking and worrying too much. In this new non-verbatim translation by Damian Stevenson, Seneca’s essay comes alive for the modern reader. Seneca’s formality of language has been preserved but the wording is more attuned to a contemporary ear. This is a rare treat for students of Stoicism and for anyone interested in seeking an answer to the eternal question, “How should I best use my time?” 
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEnhanced Media Publishing
    Release dateOct 31, 2016
    ISBN9781365498411
    On the Shortness of Life: A New Translation
    Author

    Seneca

    The writer and politician Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BCE–65 CE) was one of the most influential figures in the philosophical school of thought known as Stoicism. He was notoriously condemned to death by enforced suicide by the Emperor Nero.

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    Book preview

    On the Shortness of Life - Seneca

    ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

    Damian Stevenson studied English at Oxford University. He is the author of The Ian Fleming Files books and Scarface: The Ultimate Guide. He lives in Los Angeles. He is a practicing Stoic.

    CONTENTS

    ––––––––

    CHAPTER I

    ––––––––

    Most people, Paulinus, complain that life is too short. To these bitter folk, life hurtles by like a runaway mare, so fast and furious that it is impossible to discern its meaning before it is too late.

    I’m not just talking about impoverished plebeians or that entity referred to as the common man. Despair over the brevity of our jumbled lives is heard from those who supposedly have it all, the rich and the famous.

    Hence the popularity of the old line from Hippocrates, life is short, art is long. Hence too Aristotle’s railing against nature in his old age, when he declared life unfair because some animals have a lifespan five or even ten times the length of humans (even though man, unlike beast, is destined for great achievements).

    The problem, Paulinus, is not that we have a short life, but that we waste time. 

    Life is long and there is enough of it for satisfying personal accomplishments if we use our hours well. 

    But when time is squandered in the pursuit of pleasure or in vain idleness, when it is spent with no real purpose, the finality of death fast approaches and it is only then, when we are forced to, that we at last take a good hard look at how we have spent our life – just as we become aware that it is ending.

    Thus the time we are given is not brief, but we make it so. We do not lack time; on the contrary, there is so much of it that we waste an awful lot.

    One more point. A great fortune can quickly diminish in the inept hands of an unworthy beneficiary but wealth, while scarce for most people, if managed carefully can grow, and life is greatly enhanced for the man who can manage his financial resources successfully over his lifetime.

    CHAPTER II

    ––––––––

    Why are people so bitter, Paulinus? Nature has been good to us, not cruel. A life well spent can truly be a long life.

    But many men are governed by insatiable greed, or by a life devoted to meaningless tasks. Some turn to drink, others are paralyzed by laziness. One fellow is obsessed with his career and spends his days based on the decisions of others. Another, ruled by the love of business and making money, devotes all his energy to the pursuit of the deal. Some are driven mad by rage, and obsessed with violence or being macho, seemingly always hell-bent upon inflicting harm on others or being overly concerned with their own safety! Many individuals are virtually enslaved by a life of servitude working for the wealthy. Others are kept busy either chasing other people’s money or in complaining about their own troubled finances.

    Those who choose to have no real

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