I have had this quote in front of me for almost two years. It comes from my Daily Stoic calendar from December 26, 2020. I haven’t shared it until now and I am not sure why. I think everyone has different shit going on in their lives, especially when it comes to death.
The quote is from Seneca, and it’s a few thousand years old:
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.”
Here is an important thing to keep in mind: it is believed that the ancient Greeks only lived to about 35 years of age!
Seneca died at 68, and I wonder how old he was when he wrote that quote.
Here are a few more of my favorite quotes that do an outstanding job of shedding light on this topic:
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” – Mark Twain
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs
The takeaway from this isn’t a sentiment of doomsday death, but rather to play big, leave your mark in this world, do what you love, and live like you have nothing to lose.
I am confident that this thought process creates more happiness each and every day of life.
Life is good.
Jeff
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