Plain
Seneca — The Senator

The present moment is incredibly short. To some people, it feels like it doesn't exist at all. It's always moving and rushing past us. It disappears before it even arrives, just like the universe and the stars that never stop moving through space. Busy people only have this present moment to work with. But it's so brief they can't even grab hold of it. And when they're juggling many things at once, they lose even this tiny slice of time.

On the Shortness of Life, Section 10 42 of 87
Death & Mortality What Matters Most
Seneca — The Senator Original

Present time is very short, so much so that to some it seems to be no time at all; for it is always in motion, and runs swiftly away: it ceases to exist before it comes, and can no more brook delay than can the universe or the host of heaven, whose unresting movement never lets them pause on their way. Busy men, therefore, possess present time, alone, that being so short that they cannot grasp it, and when they are occupied with many things they lose even this.

On the Shortness of Life, Section 10 42 of 87
Seneca — The Senator

The present moment is just a single day, taken one hour at a time. But when we call on them, all the days from our past appear before us. We can examine them and linger over them — if we're not too busy to do it. A calm and peaceful mind can review every part of its life. But the minds of busy people are like animals under a yoke. They can't turn aside or look back. So their life passes away into emptiness. It's like pouring water into a broken vessel — no matter how much you pour in, it can't hold anything. The same is true with time. It doesn't matter how much time you give busy people if their minds have no place to store it. It just leaks away through the cracks and holes in their thoughts.

On the Shortness of Life, Section 10 41 of 87
Calm Your Mind What Matters Most
Seneca — The Senator Original

Our present consists only of single days, and those, too, taken one hour at a time: but all the days of past times appear before us when bidden, and allow themselves to be examined and lingered over, albeit busy men cannot find time for so doing. It is the privilege of a tranquil and peaceful mind to review all the parts of its life: but the minds of busy men are like animals under the yoke, and cannot bend aside or look back. Consequently, their life passes away into vacancy, and as you do no good however much you may pour into a vessel which cannot keep or hold what you put there, so also it matters not how much time you give men if it can find no place to settle in, but leaks away through the chinks and holes of their minds.

On the Shortness of Life, Section 10 41 of 87
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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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