4 ms·
Another very different perspective, from Seneca's "On the Shortness of Life": "So it is—the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any
by siddboots 11y ago
Another very different perspective, from Seneca's "On the Shortness of Life":
"So it is—the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it. Just as great and princely wealth is scattered in a moment when it comes into the hands of a bad owner, while wealth however limited, if it is entrusted to a good guardian, increases by use, so our life is amply long for him who orders it properly."
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"But those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear for the future have a life that is very brief and troubled; when they have reached the end of it, the poor wretches perceive too late that for such a long while they have been busied in doing nothing. "
http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/seneca_younger/brev_e.html http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/seneca_younger/brev_e...
- fao_ 11y agoThese need not be conflicting viewpoints, it depends on how much value you ascribe to certain activities, and how much joy (intellectual or otherwise) you get out of it. Sometimes meandering in the manner of Vonnegut means your mind has chance to work on other things in the background, and as a result of this it gives you inspiration, etc. Slightly on topic: Something I realised lately is that a lot of the activities I do are nothing but stress relief. So to have time to do things I want to do (studying, etc) I attempt to limit stress as much as possible, and not add more stress to the pile by accosting myself for the occasional daydream, etc.