on the shortness of life, by seneca the younger

In his moral essay On the Shortness of Life, famed Stoic philosopher Seneca (BC 4 - AD 64) seeks to educate us on the one finite resource that we tend to value least -- our time. He urges us to rid ourselves of business and stress, and instead find value in life through pursuing meaningful goals, studying, and not delaying life’s enjoyments. Here are some of my favorite quotes from his essay:

• ​It’s a small part of life we really live
  
• We are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it
  
• 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
  
• So when you see a man repeatedly wear the robe of office, or one whose name is often spoken in the forum, do not envy him: these things are worn at the cost of life
  
• The body’s needs are few: it wants to be free from cold, to banish hunger and thirst with nourishment; if we long for anything more we are exerting ourselves to serve our vices, not our needs
  
• Often a very old man has no other proof of his long life other than his age
  
• If you apply yourself to study you will avoid all boredom with life, you will not long for night because you are sick of daylight, you will be neither a burden to yourself nor useless to others, you will attract many to become your friends and the finest people will flock about you
  
• On poverty and wealth: it is simpler not to acquire than to lose, so you will notice that those people are more cheerful whom Fortune has never favored than those whom she has deserted
  

For a more detailed explanation of Seneca’s musings, check this out.