On the Shortness of Life

My Thoughts

Life is not short.

“Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.”

But it is short if it is wasted. And this is the warning of the book. Life can easily be wasted at the beck and call of others, in debauchery, in “engrossments.” Life will be short if things are purchased at the price of life.

Thoreau had to have read Seneca because Walden is full of these types of statements. Thoreau wanted his readers to understand that the cost of something is the amount of life it takes to purchase it.

This book by Seneca was a great wake-up call to truly live. To seize the day instead of waste it. To look for life today instead of hope for better things in the future. It’s a short book with a poignant message.