On the Shortness of Life

When Seneca opens his letter to his friend Paulinus, he comments that “most human beings complain about the meanness of nature because life is brief” (1), introducing his main theme—The Impermanence of Time. There may be deliberate irony or comedy in the fact that this first sentence, on brevity, is in fact extremely long. Immediately flowing from this, Seneca introduces his main thesis: “it is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it” (1). Seneca believes that each human being has the capacity to correct this misconception and take hold of their life through their own agency. This notion of agency is an expression of Seneca’s Stoic philosophy, which encourages inner introspection and contemplation to achieve inner wisdom. The reliance on the self that Seneca promotes in counter to aspects of the presiding polytheistic belief system that dominated Roman culture at the time; the gods were revered and respected because of their influence over the human world. In assuring humans that their life is long enough if they alone use it well, Seneca reclaims for humans the power that divine forces such as Fate and the gods were thought to have over people’s lives. 

Seneca presents his philosophy as a potential solution to the quandary that all mortal people find themselves in: the necessities and temptations of life which consume time. His examples embrace the general Roman as well as distinguished men such as Augustus, Cicero, and Livius Drusus, demonstrating that all are subject to the same constraints of time and mortality. He displays some compassion for those who are preoccupied out of necessity:

Indeed the state of all who are preoccupied is wretched, but the most wretched are those who are toiling not even at their own preoccupations, but must regulate their sleep by another’s, and their walk by another’s pace, and obey orders in those freest of all things, loving and hating (31).

While Seneca acknowledges that there are those who are not in control of their own lives or time—in short, those who lack the agency or leisure which he considers the essential route to inner peace and wisdom—it is not clear how his philosophy should be applied to the “wretched,” or whether it was intended by him to be generally applicable. In the extremely uneven society of imperial Rome, the vast majority of the population would have been made up those without even the most basic personal rights and agency: individuals living in poverty, enslaved people, women, and other non-citizens. It is notable that women are mentioned in “On the Shortness of Life” very rarely, never by name and only to the extent that their circumstances impact on the men around them; they are never character examples in their own right. In this way, Seneca’s philosophy is an intrinsically elitist one which reflects his world view, designed for an audience of wealthy, Roman men.

Seneca’s discussion over the course of pages 2-8, where his main exemplars are introduced, focuses on the “useless tasks” that all people, wealthy and non-wealthy, preoccupy themselves with—tasks that are often driven by greed, ambition, fame, and desire for other indulgences. These “seductions of society” (5) distract everyone from a universal truth: The Impermanence of Time. This theme is reiterated often to emphasize the true nature of time and prompt the reader to consider Seneca’s second theme: The Importance of the Present. Seneca uses warning language, negative examples and rhetorical questions to exhort his reader: “Aren’t you ashamed to keep for yourself just the remnants of your life?”; “...how stupid to forget your mortality!” [5]).

Seneca does recognize that there have been previous attempts by some to highlight the value of leisure: “the most powerful and highly stationed men let drop remarks in which they pray for leisure, praise it, and rate it higher than all their blessings” (5). In using his extended exemplars of Augustus, Cicero and Livius Drusus, Seneca challenges the notion that even these renowned figures were wholly successful in their lives because they did not, in fact, ever achieve true leisure. True leisure is elusive and difficult to attain, as Seneca argues, because it requires one to be removed from worldly concerns. In exploring what it is to be a great or wise Roman, Seneca plays with imagery around high and low: “high fortune…comes crashing down” (5). He continues to juxtapose these ideas: “highly stationed” (5), “deified” (6) vs language of lacking virtue “stained with dishonor” (9), pointing towards those driven by alcohol and lust (9). As his argument progresses, Seneca continues to use word play with contrasting pairs like high and low: “the higher it rises the more lovable it is to fall,” happy and sad: “hope excites more hope…but they do not look for an end to their misery,” and virtuous and disgraceful in general terms first, and subsequently by naming more historical figures (28). By presenting the experience of life as a series of contrasting experiences and choices, Seneca gives urgency and momentum to his argument, and underpins the concept of human agency.

Seneca devotes five pages to differentiating between living the true life and simple passing the time through life. Seneca’s two aforementioned themes are inextricably linked throughout this discussion, where he reminds his readers that life is limited and, thus, must be lived fully in the present moment. Seneca continues his contrarian tone while drawing this distinction by challenging his readers to not conflate a long span of life with actually living a long, meaningful life; white hair and wrinkles only indicate that you existed a long time (11). By citing Virgil, a renowned and respected poet of the Augustan period, Seneca appeals to a broader base beyond Stoics in calling his readers towards the ultimate Stoic mission: striving to live a meaningful life through philosophy and introspection. Virgil’s verse (14) is about how, despite the passing of time, wisdom does not necessarily accompany old age. Rather, Seneca urges his readers to rely on the Stoic ideal of presence in the moment and to use Introspection and Leisure as a Means to Wisdom in the here and now. In a simile using travelers (14), Seneca again demonstrates some compassion for his readers by likening the pursuit of wisdom to a journey: both take time and are not necessarily linear or predictable: the outcome cannot be taken for granted. 

As the most frequently used word in Seneca’s essay, the word “time” takes on multiple layers of meaning and reflects Seneca’s philosophical exploration of the nature of human existence in relation to the passing of time. When Seneca turns to discussing time itself, he defines it in three aspects: past, present, and future (15). Seneca draws attention to the nature of the past which is fixed and unchangeable. Because the past is certain, there is a sacredness to it and, while over-contemplation of the past may be a pitfall, it can be a useful route to wisdom. As Seneca writes, befriending great dead philosophers is a worthwhile use of time because it allows one to contemplate and cultivate self-awareness. Seneca demonstrates the value of the past practically by, for instance, engaging with past philosophers, quoting Virgil, and using historical exemplars.

Throughout his discussion of time, Seneca continues to challenge his contemporaries to think beyond the pantheon of gods and influence of Fortune (Fortuna) as being the sole forces at work in determining the length of one’s life and instead take ownership over one’s own time. The notion of human agency over their time quickly turns Seneca to explore the notion of leisure, which he is careful to distinguish from indolence (18). Seneca’s regular use of rhetorical questions in this discussion are emotive and designed to draw the reader in to consider multiple examples from life: vanity, fame, displays of wealth. The extensive examples Seneca offers are another opportunity for him to point out that most, if not all, succumb to external forces rather and do not properly cultivate their internal well-being. Seneca does exhibit compassion when he explains the difficulty in learning how to live: it can take a “whole life” to do so (10). 

Seneca repeatedly reminds his readers that time is finite, and a lifespan is a non-renewable resource, taking on the metaphorical role of a commodity. By defining time as limited, Seneca lays a strong foundation for his discussions on how one should make the most of their time. Given this foundation, Seneca has moments of frustration when he argues that people often waste such a valuable resource on trivial pursuits and preoccupations that do not contribute to personal growth. Seneca measures his attack of his fellow Romans, again, by shifting from generalities to specific historical figures, featuring in a long list on pages 20-22, who similarly failed to be in true leisure and instead devoted themselves to useless or trivial pursuits. Anticipation for the solution builds throughout these examples, and Seneca finally offers his solution—the means, that is, to true leisure—on page 23: philosophy. 

Ultimately, Seneca views time as an opportunity to cultivate wisdom and virtue through inner contemplation. One’s use of time reflects one’s values, and time is best used when striving to become more virtuous and make meaningful contributions to the world. In order to accomplish these two things, Seneca believes that people should make the most of their time in the present moment. One must live their life fully in the present rather than allowing fears of the future to consume their time and, ultimately, waste their life. As Seneca pushes towards the end of his essay, he integrates his key themes of The Impermanence of Time, The Importance of The Present, and Introspection and Leisure as a Means to a Meaningful Life. Simply put, time is in the control of the individual and sufficiently long if used well, and good use depends on leisure, which he has already defined for his reader as self-awareness through mindfulness. Only then is a person wise, though the application of philosophy.

Seneca calls explicitly upon his interlocutor, Paulinus, as he concludes, urging him to withdraw from the pressures of the world (29). Seneca’s tone remains critical as he challenges the common phenomenon of working into old age. Seneca’s discussion of how one’s desire for work outlasts their body’s physical capability allows the reader to infer that Paulinus must be aging, so time is, indeed, of great importance. Although little is known of Paulinus and his identity is uncertain, if he was Seneca’s father-in-law, it can be assumed that he would be older than Seneca in 49 CE. Seneca comes full circle at the end of his essay when he echoes the beginning’s sentiment that life is short. Seneca, however, intensifies the impact of time for those who waste it on ostentatious displays in their death; for these people, life is “shortest” (33).