Seneca On The Shortness Of Life

Leisure seemed such a desirable thing that, because he couldn't enjoy it in reality, he enjoyed the thought of it in advance

for even without any external disturbance or shock, fortune crashes down on itself under its own weight.

How late it is to begin living just when life must come to an end!

And what guarantee, may I ask, do you have that your life will last longer?

You're like ordinary mortals in fearing everything, you're like immortals in coveting everything

you don't keep an eye on how much time has passed already

You'll come to realize that you're dying before your time.

you'll see that you've fewer years than you count

in guarding their private property, but as soon as it comes to wasting time, they are most extravagant with the one commodity for which it's respectable to be greedy.

you never thought fit to look on yourself or to listen to yourself. And so you've no reason to expect a return from anyone for those attentions of yours, since you offered them not because you wanted another's company but because you were incapable of communing with yourself.