Aristotle tells us of little creatures on the river Hypanis that live for only a day. One that dies at eight in the morning dies young; one that dies at five in the evening dies of old age. Who would not laugh to see the difference between such momentary lifespans counted as happiness or unhappiness? Yet calling our own lives long or short, when they are compared with eternity, or even to the spans of mountains, rivers, stars, trees, and certain other animals, seems no less absurd. Montaigne, That to Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die (1580)
