Seneca on the Shortness of Life

Seneca, was a Roman philosopher/historian/civic leader, who lived from 5 BC to 65 AD. He wrote a book about the shortness of life and the need to make the most of it.

In some ways it is very ancient but in others it is quite modern. He refers to contemporaries and institutions from long ago and far away and that make it seem very old. He talks about Caesar Augustus, invading countries, and punishing slaves. Women are not really considered except as harlots. These things are foreign to us.

But he talks about behaviors that happen today and are commonly seen. People wasting their time collecting Corinthian artifacts which go up in price because of a mania among other foolish collectors. Flaunting their money or glory. Erecting huge palaces to themselves. Eating, drinking, lusting, Having huge banquets to influence politicians. Building grand mausoleums for themselves so they could enjoy their glory after death. Everyone trying to get ahead, scrambling, pushing others out of the way.

One person was so rich and pampered that he had to ask one of his servants if he was sitting down. (Of course he knew if he was sitting down or not, says Seneca, but it was to show others how he didn’t even have to think about even the simplest of things. Others did that for them.)

These references to human frailty, shortcomings and foolishness make the essay seem so timeless and relevant. We can pull his ideas out of the page and use them immediately in our lives. No need to understand the Roman way of thinking or attitudes: they are just like ours. Seneca’s thoughts have lasted 2,000 years. There is a reason for that—they apply in every age.

Now for the details of his advice. Life is short. Your time is precious: use it wisely. If you had a fatal disease with a short time to live, wouldn’t you view each day as a precious gift? Wouldn’t you enjoy just being alive and dwell in the present? If you could somehow get one more day wouldn’t that day be as prized to you as the greatest jewel? Live that way anyway, because in a way we all have a fatal disease. Don’t ignore today wishing it would pass so some future time could be here more quickly. Don’t long for the future and grow weary of the present. Cherish your life today, as you live it today. Don’t become distracted by tomorrow.

As the song says, Tomorrow is always a day away.

He uses metaphors or analogies a great deal and they are perhaps a good way of understanding his points.

Life is like a journey.

It is like a balance sheet.

It is like a container.

1. Life is a journey or voyage.
First, make sure you are going somewhere when you start out and not just ending up where you began. Second, be aware of what you are doing as you make the journey.

This is how he explains it:

Can we say that an old man has lived long because he has white hair? Maybe not, says Seneca.


“he has not lived long—he has existed long. For what if you should think that that man had had a long voyage who had been caught by a fierce storm as soon as he left harbor, and, swept hither and thither by a succession of winds that raged from different quarters, had been driven in a circle around the same course? Not much voyaging did he have, but much tossing about. “

And here is another comparison to a journey. Be aware of the trip as you go along:

“Even as conversation or reading or deep meditation on some subject beguiles the traveler, and he finds that he has reached the end of his journey before he was aware that he was approaching it, just so with this unceasing and most swift journey of life, which we make at the same pace whether waking or sleeping; those who are engrossed become aware of it only at the end. “


2. Life is a balance sheet
Talk to an old man (Or put yourself in the shoes of that old man, really.) and say to him:


"I see that you have reached the farthest limit of human life, you are pressing hard upon your hundredth year, or are even beyond it; come now, recall your life and make a reckoning. Consider how much of your time was taken up with a moneylender, how much with a mistress, how much with a patron, how much with a client, how much in wrangling with your wife, how much in punishing your slaves, how much in rushing about the city on social duties. Add the diseases which we have caused by our own acts, add, too, the time that has lain idle and unused; you will see that you have fewer years to your credit than you count. Look back in memory and consider when you ever had a fixed plan, how few days have passed as you had intended, when you were ever at your own disposal, when your face ever wore its natural expression, when your mind was ever unperturbed, what work you have achieved in so long a life, how many have robbed you of life when you were not aware of what you were losing, how much was taken up in useless sorrow, in foolish joy, in greedy desire, in the allurements of society, how little of yourself was left to you; you will perceive that you are dying before your season!"

And so should we all maintain our balance sheet. How much of our time is taken up by wasteful activity? How much has been spent on things we can look back on with pride, happiness, or fondness? Fill your account book with the latter and reduce the former.

3. Life is a container

And so their life vanishes into an abyss; and as it does no good, no matter how much water you pour into a vessel, if there is no bottom to receive and hold it, so with time—it makes no difference how much is given; if there is nothing for it to settle upon, it passes out through the chinks and holes of the mind.


Here are some other interesting points he makes

1.Others take your time for granted as if it is of no value. If someone tried to take your money or your land, you would fight them tooth and nail. But anyone feels free to take up your time. Fight for that just as much.

2. Study the writings of great philosophers, historians and other writers. They will give you all the time you want. They will not turn you away. Aristotle will spend hours with you, Herodotus is available any day you would like.

3. We say we cannot choose our parents. But we can. We can be the children of all of these great people from the past. Let them adopt us.

4. The future is uncertain and the present does not last. Our past is our greatest treasure because it cannot be stolen or altered. Make sure it is a good one so that when you look back on it, you can say you did something worthwhile in your life.

Two last comments.

I guess Seneca himself is the best example of practicing what he preached. He wrote a number of essays that have lasted. That doesn’t bring him back from the dead, but while he was alive, he could look back and say that with the time he had he spent it productively. His account book looked pretty good. He knew where he wanted to go on his journey, got there, and enjoyed it as he went along.

The idea of living for today hits home with me. I lost two sisters, Donna and Jeanne, to illness a long time ago, and I think about them often and miss them enormously. I don’t take my being alive for granted and I try as best I can to make the most of it. And I appreciate that others around me themselves could be here for only a short time. I try never to forget that.