Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves and each other. They have inspired debate, di...
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Oct 26, 2007
Kevin
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This is a very short book, really a collection of three letters. The first one is primarily cautioning a friend about getting caught up in "life" - that is, the demands and expectations placed on us, and the forum for empty ambitions that the business of the world provides - to the detriment of our contentment or the long-term happiness. A classic analogy from this letter is that one who is old has not really necessarily lived long, any more than one who embarks on a ship and is toss
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Oct 02, 2007
Sara
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It is amazing how something written so long ago can have such relevance today. I found this essay really inspiring.
here is a good quote:
"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 when it is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away More...
here is a good quote:
"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 when it is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away More...
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May 06, 2011
Jeremy
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Seneca - an important stoic - wrote 'on the shortness of life' in the first century A.D. Firstly I will outline what he says, then I'll briefly state my agreements and disagreements.
He comes down on the reader without restraint - time is the most precious thing we have, it is irreplaceable and priceless yet people just barter it away. When we squander our life away doing unimportant things we effectively shorten our life-span.
"The part of life we really live is small. Fo More...
He comes down on the reader without restraint - time is the most precious thing we have, it is irreplaceable and priceless yet people just barter it away. When we squander our life away doing unimportant things we effectively shorten our life-span.
"The part of life we really live is small. Fo More...
Nov 07, 2010
Linda
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"So it is inevitable that life will be not just very short but very miserable for those who acquire by great toil what they must keep by greater toil. They achieve what they want laboriously; they possess what they have achieved anxiously; and meanwhile they take no account of time that will never more return."
"…if you happen to live at a time when public life is hard to cope with, you will just have to claim more time for leisure and literary work, seek a safe harbour f More...
"…if you happen to live at a time when public life is hard to cope with, you will just have to claim more time for leisure and literary work, seek a safe harbour f More...
Feb 05, 2010
Kaput
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Seneca advocates a very austere form of living. He felt that prosperity brought out the worst in people as it was too easy to succumb to excess. He sees vice everywhere, and I think it made him a bit extreme as there is not much that escapes his ire. All around him he sees people sleep walking through life, following the wrong paths in the pursuit of happiness. It's easy to see why this book might still have relevance.
The answer he believes is to be found in reflection and rigorous s More...
The answer he believes is to be found in reflection and rigorous s More...
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Oct 15, 2009
This past week, although fun, has been TOTALLY INSANE for me. What with driving up to the out-of-town wedding of some close friends, preparing for and attending an art opening showcasing my knitted work, getting to witness two amazing dance performances (one of them by ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov!), going with David on a fantastic professional photoshoot, and various dinners out with friends and family, I've barely had time to read at all, let alone write about my reading. In fact, in th
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Apr 15, 2010
Pat
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Seneca was born about the time of Christ. It was interesting to read about all the similarities we have with life 2000 years later--comb overs for men, sunbathing, wasting time "For as soon as their preoccupations fail them, they are restless with nothing to do, not knowing how to dispose of their leisure or make the time pass. And so they are anxious for something else to do, and all the intervening time is wearisome: really, it is just as when a gladiatorial show has been announced, or
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Jan 02, 2010
Ah, the stoics... I do love the Romans, regardless of their faults, and their equanimity is always reassuring. These three essays/letters by Seneca are the perfect sort of thing to read at the start of the New Year, pondering how it is that we can get the most satisfaction from the time we are given. Seneca's answer? Relax. Stop worrying so much about getting rich and famous and popular. Instead, do what you must - and then, philosophize. Humans have three times: the past, the present, and the f
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Feb 02, 2011
Rebecca
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I was wary of this, as a sexily recovered, retitled thing that looks like something you'd read on a train to look clever--but it really is a wholesome anthology of 3 essays and letters from the justly beloved Seneca.
Deeply satisfying and soothing advice, tremendously timeless (if you set aside issues like forums and slaves, or find a good metaphor to translate these), and as peaceful as watching The Frugal Gourmet was when I was tiny--I feel like Seneca is the sage parent we all wis More...
Deeply satisfying and soothing advice, tremendously timeless (if you set aside issues like forums and slaves, or find a good metaphor to translate these), and as peaceful as watching The Frugal Gourmet was when I was tiny--I feel like Seneca is the sage parent we all wis More...
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Jan 23, 2009
Isaac
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Seneca is one of the greatest Roman stoic philosophers. This book is very readable and very profound. (Be careful — he may inspire you to get sell all your stuff and live a Spartan life (no pun intended)).
While the principles discussed are secular, the book reads more like easy-to-read scripture. I highly recommend to everyone who needs a solid grounding in reality, remembering what's most important.
Seneca makes a spirited attack on materialism and the pains that come wit More...
While the principles discussed are secular, the book reads more like easy-to-read scripture. I highly recommend to everyone who needs a solid grounding in reality, remembering what's most important.
Seneca makes a spirited attack on materialism and the pains that come wit More...
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May 26, 2011
Milla
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This book was a good start to the Great Ideas series and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of them. I am not an expert on the literary aspects of the book but as for the content, I think there are many still relevant themes in Seneca's writings such as appreciating each day and life in general while not remaining stuck on our misfortunes. I liked the general optimistic world view in the book and agree that we should remember the difference between just existing and actually living our live
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Oct 02, 2010
Nick
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 02, 2011
Phillip
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A very short read. The whole book was ~100 pages or so; the essay On the Shortness of Life was only 34 pages.
Basically, we think life is short because we don't maximize the time we are given. Seneca talks at length about how humans distract themselves or are distracted by others from focusing on experiencing life to the fullest. He says nature gives us all the time we need to live full lives; it is our own fault if we squander it. Seneca advocates hoarding one's time to oneself and More...
Basically, we think life is short because we don't maximize the time we are given. Seneca talks at length about how humans distract themselves or are distracted by others from focusing on experiencing life to the fullest. He says nature gives us all the time we need to live full lives; it is our own fault if we squander it. Seneca advocates hoarding one's time to oneself and More...
Aug 22, 2011
Kgwhitehurst
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The first letter does present stoicism as drugery. It's almost as bad as Marcus Aurelius's MEDITATIONS. The first letter really did make me wonder why these guys couldn't try harder to frame their thinking in more positive terms--like Epictetus did in THE ART OF LIVING or Virgil did or Pliny the Younger. Hell, even Cicero, that old blowhard, makes for less of a lecture. The first letter is really off-putting. I almost didn't finish the book b/c of the first letter.
Letters two and three More...
Letters two and three More...
Jun 20, 2011
Aaron
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Profoundly insightful, if often elusive and auto-contradictory, commentary on purpose and meaning. Not all of it is realistic or applicably to modern life (no, Seneca, man cannot simply pursue his own pleasures -- we must, in the end, eat and pay rent) -- but it certainly provides useful guides.
Some top quotes:
"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. But one man is gri More...
Some top quotes:
"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. But one man is gri More...
Nov 18, 2008
Rob
rated it:
A wisdom-packed little volume from the great Stoic, Seneca; contains 'On the Shortness of Life,' as well as 'Consolation to Helvia' (written to his mother about living at peace with fate) and 'On Tranquility of Mind.' A work both practical and profound, and so far-removed from the messages of our own dominant society.
'It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.'
'Why not turn from this brief and transient spell of time and give ourselves wh More...
'It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.'
'Why not turn from this brief and transient spell of time and give ourselves wh More...
Jun 15, 2009
This is not a book to read once.
This is a book to have by your bedside. To peak at every day. To assimilate.
Seneca's words are like darts: precise, accurate, carefully thrown. The subject matter of his essay is inevitably timeless. Until we find a cure for mortality that is, but even then his advice is solid like a rock.
Buy today. Read it (it's very short!). And make it a practice to remind yourself of the wise words of this roman philosopher.
Your life wil
This is a book to have by your bedside. To peak at every day. To assimilate.
Seneca's words are like darts: precise, accurate, carefully thrown. The subject matter of his essay is inevitably timeless. Until we find a cure for mortality that is, but even then his advice is solid like a rock.
Buy today. Read it (it's very short!). And make it a practice to remind yourself of the wise words of this roman philosopher.
Your life wil
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May 23, 2010
Krista
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I found this very interesting, though not having read much in the way of the old classics for nearly decades it did take a little extra effort to get through, I liked his discussions on wasting time, and how time is the only truly precious thing we have. Definitely worth reading and quite easy to get as well, I am looking forward to more challenging reading from the Penguin Great Ideas books.
Aug 20, 2009
laura
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a handful of seneca quotations included in griswold's FORGIVENESS (i think i reviewed it earlier this year) convinced me that it was some kind of insane mistake that i'd never read any of (or even really heard of) the original texts. the works presented in this book don't even come close to living up to those brief quotations (which were mostly on the topics of anger, resentment, responsibility). i suppose that a book of important little platitudes is what i expected from a tiny book in a "
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Aug 15, 2011
Fil
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As with The Republic, I had trouble navigating the depths of this old-world philosophical text. It rambles often, and the examples and logic are difficult to follow even though I have a rudimentary knowledge of the big players of Roman history mentioned within. Got a few great quotes out of it though, and some interesting ideas w.r.t. Stoicism.
Oct 12, 2009
Aziz
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This concise book provides the reader with three letters from Stoic philosopher Seneca, written over 2000 years ago.
The insight that remains poingant throught is that of temperance, frugality and moderation. These three key Stoic attributes are discussed in various forms, from a sorrowful mother, to an over-ambitios statesman.
Reccomended.
The insight that remains poingant throught is that of temperance, frugality and moderation. These three key Stoic attributes are discussed in various forms, from a sorrowful mother, to an over-ambitios statesman.
Reccomended.
Jun 04, 2011
Mel
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Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger truly lives up to his reputation as one of the greatest thinkers and stoics to ever live.
He clearly and simply explains and talks about how life should be live, how a person must always utilize and maximize his/her time, how he/she must be able to stay open minded and open hearted to everything around him/her. truly one of the best and direct works that I have read. He is indeed one hell of a philosopher who truly embodies stoicism and applies it in More...
He clearly and simply explains and talks about how life should be live, how a person must always utilize and maximize his/her time, how he/she must be able to stay open minded and open hearted to everything around him/her. truly one of the best and direct works that I have read. He is indeed one hell of a philosopher who truly embodies stoicism and applies it in More...
May 08, 2011
Edwina
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A quick easy book that everyone should read. Seneca provides a clear explanation of the importance of time, self respect and the fundamental way these two concepts are linked. These concepts, once explained, seem so self evident and will make you seriously re-evaluate the way you lead your life.
Jun 25, 2009
Andrea
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I expected more... It's actually a collection of three letters Seneca wrote. The first one is good, the others are barely relevant to the topic. Lots of obscure references to minor political figures and scandals of ancient Rome which render the book too dated and much less relevant today.
Jan 10, 2012
David
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This book is very worth reading. Seneca advises a bunch of thinks. But to put it very quickly: time is precious, don't waste it. He encourages looking at the past in order to add that time to our own and a whole bunch of other things. Worth reading.
Jul 14, 2009
Martha
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"We must be especially careful in choosing people, and deciding whether they are worth devoting a part of our lives to them, whether the sacrifice of our time makes a difference to them. For some people actually charge us for our services to them."
Aug 02, 2011
Everyone needs to read this and take through stock of where they've set their priorities. An excellent little book, very straightforward and thought provoking, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jan 19, 2011
Jordan
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I had to read this for my first class, and to be honest it was quite eye opening. Definitely a must read for any fan of Philosophy, or if you're just looking for a book that will cheer you up.
Aug 04, 2010
Benjamen
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I read this book (essay, really) whenever I get that feeling where time just slips away from under me. Time is the only non-renewable resource in which everyone is equally wealthy, and yet very few people know how to manage it and often complain of how there aren't enough hours in the day. Seneca will teach you how to invest all of your time into yourself, even when with other people, so you may live your life to the absolute fullest extent, and not waste a single precious moment.
You More...
You More...
Apr 06, 2009
Eliza
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Life is long if you know how to use it." - Seneca
This book is a collection of letters that are over 2000 years old. We are very fortunate to have something like this.
This book is a collection of letters that are over 2000 years old. We are very fortunate to have something like this.
