On the Shortness of Life, Section 1

Seneca — The Senator

We haven't been given a short life. We've just wasted a lot of it. Life is long enough to do the most important things. We have plenty of time — if we use it well. But when we waste it on luxury and carelessness, when we don't put it toward anything good, then suddenly we realize it's all gone. We never even noticed it slipping away. That's how it works: we don't receive a short life, but we make it short. We're not poor in days — we're wasteful with them. When great wealth falls into the hands of a bad owner, it disappears quickly. But even a modest fortune grows when a wise person manages it. Our life works the same way. It offers great opportunities for anyone who knows how to use it well.

Seneca — The Senator Original

We do not have a very short time assigned to us, but we lose a great deal of it: life is long enough to carry out the most important projects: we have an ample portion, if we do but arrange the whole of it aright: but when it all runs to waste through luxury and carelessness, when it is not devoted to any good purpose, then at the last we are forced to feel that it is all over, although we never noticed how it glided away. Thus it is: we do not receive a short life, but we make it a short one, and we are not poor in days, but wasteful of them. When great and kinglike riches fall into the hands of a bad master, they are dispersed straightway, but even a moderate fortune, when bestowed upon a wise guardian, increases by use: and in like manner our life has great opportunities for one who knows how to dispose of it to the best advantage.

On the Shortness of Life, Section 1 — In Plain English