Seneca on Time: The Final Frontier
Upon finishing my first year at university, I was in shock that the year had passed so quickly. As an attempt to determine exactly what I was doing during the year, I began to keep a daily journal. After a few weeks, a common theme had emerged.
Time was slipping away at an alarming rate.
Each of the journals ended along the lines of: I didn’t accomplish anything impactful or productive today. Where did my time go? My biggest fear was waking up one morning and suddenly realizing that I had spent all my time accomplishing… nothing. Unfortunately for many people, that fear eventually becomes reality.
Frantic, I began to search for solutions. I scoured countless of articles on how to manage time, how to be more productive, etc… Nothing provided a solution. They were all quick-fixes.
Finally, I stumbled upon Seneca’s On the Shortness of Life. Here are some quotes that changed my perspective entirely:
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
“Just as when ample and princely wealth falls to a bad owner it is squandered in a moment, but wealth, however modest, if entrusted to a good custodian, increases with use, so our lifetime extends amply if you manage it properly.”
“People are frugal in guarding 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.”
“Believe me, it is the sign of a great man, and one who is above human error, not to allow his time to be frittered away: he as the longest possible life simply because whatever time was available he devoted entirely to himself.”
“So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived long, just existed long.”
“Of all people only those who are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only those are really alive.”
“But life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.”
“When they come to the end of it, the poor wretches relize too late that for all this time they have been preoccupied in doing nothing.”
“Indeed the state of all who are preoccupied is wretched, but the most wretched are those who are toiling not even at their own preoccupations, but must regulate their sleep by another’s, and their walk by another’s pace, and obey orders in those freest of all things, loving and hating.”
“So, when you see a man repeatedly wearing the robe of office, or one whose name is often spoken in the Forum, do not envy him: these things are won at the cost of life.”
Thanks for reading! Hopefully these quotes have been inspirational and I highly recommend reading the original text by Seneca. If you enjoyed this article, please drop a heart below so others can learn from it as well. Good luck conquering time!
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