It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it.
Non exiguum temporis habemus, sed multum perdidimus.

Philosophers
Seneca
Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD), Stoic philosopher and Nero's advisor, wrote on time, anger, and adversity from the heart of Roman power. His Moral Letters and On the Shortness of Life remain practical self-mastery guides.
View this figure's profile
Seneca's Other Quotes
Fire tests gold; adversity tests strong people.
As in all things, we suffer from excess in reading too. Many books are a burden, not an ornament.
It is the quality of your life that matters, not its length.
Anger, if not obeyed, fades; once it enters the mind and pervades habit, vice becomes law.
It is hard to retain what you learn unless you practice it.
Related Quotes
The greatest happiness in life lies in turning your work into your passion.
-- Honda Seiroku
Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend.
-- Hypatia
Everything depends on your judgment, and that judgment rests with you.
-- Marcus Aurelius
You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
-- Steve Jobs
Before you point your fingers, make sure your hands are clean.
-- Li Ka-shing
Life is a dance between making it happen and letting it happen.
-- Arianna Huffington