On the Shortness of Life

Ironically, i think this book could have benefited from a little more brevity. I was moved at the beginning, distant towards the middle, and then recoiled in towards the end.

"life isn't short, we make it so." Should be made mandatory reading for everyone who calls for a meeting

Just a short reminder why we should treat the most valuable resource in our lives with more respect.

Well-teanslated, timeless wisdom. Will make you want to cut out distractions from your life and pursue shelves goals. Books that inspire should be cherished.

This book was something I really needed personally. I have spent the last two months with my head down, buried in work that needed to get done. It was amazing and changed my life, but now I have a lot of free time on my hands. It is very easy these days to spend our free time wasting away. Watching Netflix, drinking at the bar, or whatever it may be. I fall into the trap very easily, and when I do, I often find myself being filled with despair and depression. Seneca has reminded me of the things that truly bring value to my life. He has reminded me to work on them while I can. Of course, this is sort of an obvious thing, but I find myself swayed to follow other people more than I should. I want to keep a copy of this book around. I know that I will need to reconnect in the near future. There may not be a lot of solid examples in this book on HOW to apply what Seneca suggests, but for me I just need to keep these lessons in the back of my mind, ready for pondering. It was my first reading of anything by Seneca and I am excited to get into more!

Great Ideas Week is upon us! Starting with On the Shortness of Life, watch the video here.

Stellar intro to stoic philosophy, very quick read, easy to revisit

Seneca seemed like a bit of an asshole to me.

Yet another Classic and it was a good one

“There will always be causes for anxiety, whether due to prosperity or to wretchedness.” “It is the mind that creates our wealth, and this goes with us into exile, and in the harshest desert places it finds sufficient to nourish the body and revels in the enjoyment of its own goods.” “But nothing delights the mind so much as fond and loyal friendship. What a blessing it is to have hearts that are ready and willing to receive all your secrets in safety, with whom you are less afraid to share knowledge of something than keep it to yourself, whose conversation soothes your distress, whose advice helps you make up your mind, whose cheerfulness dissolves your sorrow, whose very appearance cheers you up!” “We must go for walks out of doors, so that the mind can be strengthened and invigorated by a clear sky and plenty of fresh air. At times it will acquire fresh energy from a journey by carriage and a change of scene, or from socializing and drinking freely.”

This is perfect reading for a new year, I just got a late start this year; explains the rough month I've had.

Took me a while to get into it. Now covered in notes. Extremely relevant to modern life: find your "tranquility"

Aye shit

Timeless wisdom! Life is not short, it’s just...you waste most of it. By making an effort to learn how to live, you’ll have a long life. You are going to die, but make of your time the best you can. Aim for stability, focus on freedom and philosophy ❤️

Three great letters. Overly lengthy in parts, but filled with wisdom.