Plain
Seneca — The Senator

Another man is a famous lawyer. People fight to get him to take their cases. He draws huge crowds to the courthouse — so many that most can't even hear him speak. But he says, "When will vacation time come?" Every person rushes through life. They long for the future and feel tired of the present. But a person who uses all his time for his own purposes — who plans each day like he's planning his whole life — neither wishes for tomorrow nor fears it. What new pleasure could any hour bring him? He knows all pleasures and has enjoyed them to the point of being sick of them.

On the Shortness of Life, Section 7 29 of 87
What Matters Most Freedom & Control
Seneca — The Senator Original

another is an advocate who is fought for in all the courts, and who draws immense audiences, who crowd all the forum to a far greater distance than they can hear him; "When," says he, "will vacation-time come?" Every man hurries through his life, and suffers from a yearning for the future, and a weariness of the present: but he who disposes of all his time for his own purposes, who arranges all his days as though he were arranging the plan of his life, neither wishes for nor fears the morrow: for what new pleasure can any hour now bestow upon him? he knows it all, and has indulged in it all even to satiety.

On the Shortness of Life, Section 7 29 of 87
Seneca — The Senator

Add up your time and think through all the days of your life. You'll see that only a handful of days — and only the ones that were useless for anything else — have actually belonged to you. The politician who finally gets the power he craved can't wait to give it up. He keeps asking, 'When will this year be over?' Another person puts on public games — something he once would have paid anything to do. But now he asks, 'When can I escape from this?'

On the Shortness of Life, Section 7 28 of 87
Freedom & Control What Matters Most
Seneca — The Senator Original

Balance your account, and run over all the days of your life; you will see that only a very few days, and only those which were useless for any other purpose, have been left to you. He who has obtained the _fasces_[6] for which he longed, is eager to get rid of them, and is constantly saying, "When will this year be over?" another exhibits public games, and once would have given a great deal for the chance of doing so, but now "when," says he, "shall I escape from this?"

On the Shortness of Life, Section 7 28 of 87
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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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