On the Shortness of Life (Unabridged)
On the Shortness of Life by Seneca - De Brevitate Vitae (English: On the Shortness of Life) is a moral essay written by Seneca the Younger, a Roman Stoic philosopher, sometime around the year 49 AD, to his father-in-law Paulinus. The philosopher brings up many Stoic principles on the nature of time, namely that people waste much of it in meaningless pursuits. According to the essay, nature gives people enough time to do what is really important and the individual must allot it properly. In general, time is best used by living in the present moment in pursuit of the intentional, purposeful life.
Contents
In chapter 1 Seneca counters the complaint that life is too short with the view that life is long enough if well-managed. Chapters 2 to 9 survey the many ways in which life is squandered and time frittered away by those people (occupati) engrossed in pointless pursuits. Chapters 10 to 17 contrast the philosophical approach to leisure (otium) with the deluded common approach. This culminates in chapters 18 to 20 showing the emancipation of the wise, who can soar above the lives of others mired in endless preoccupation.
Themes
In the treatise Seneca argues that we waste so much time because we do not properly value it. We expend great effort in protecting other valuables such as money and property, but because time appears intangible, we allow others to occupy it and take time away from us. Wise people, on the other hand, understand that time is the most valuable of all resources, and with effort can free themselves from external control to engage in meaningful introspection and create an intentional life.
Seneca urges his readers to live in the present, and adapt themselves to a purposeful life in agreement with nature. Only by doing so, can one then truly unlock both past and future. The completeness of each present moment allows one's awareness to expand to the equal of that of the universe, and achieve true virtue and happiness.
The statements which urge Paulinus to retire from public life are in notable contrast to Seneca's advice in his De Tranquillitate Animi (to his friend Annaeus Serenus) to seek public employments in order to render life attractive. However, in his related treatise, De Otio, Seneca makes the point that there is no inconsistency, and that one can serve the greater community in either or both roles.
Seneca (Author), Nelson Parker (Narrator)
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