Η ζωή είναι μικρή: Πολύ σύντομα μαθήματα για να τη ζήσουμε πραγματικά

by Dean Rickles, Γιάννης Δούκας (Translator)

Το αναπόδραστο του θανάτου µοιάζει να αντιστρατεύεται τις προσπάθειες να δηµιουργήσουµε µια ζωή µε νόηµα. Κι όµως, όπως µας θυµίζει στο περιεκτικό αυτό βιβλίο, που συνοµιλεί, µεταξύ άλλων, µε τον Σενέκα και το Περί της συντοµίας της ζωής, ο Αυστραλός φιλόσοφος Dean Rickles, «ζωή χωρίς θάνατο θα ήταν σαν να παίζεις τένις χωρίς το δίχτυ». Μόνο οι περιορισµοί —και ο θάνατος είναι ο απόλυτος περιορισµός— δίνουν νόηµα στις πράξεις µας. Για τον Rickles, η αξία της ζωής βρίσκεται στην πεπερασµένη φύση της και η γνώση αυτή είναι το κλειδί για να ζήσουµε συνειδητά, αποφεύγοντας την παγίδα της αναβλητικότητας και της αναποφασιστικότητας.
Το Η ζωή είναι µικρή είναι ένα απελευθερωτικό και εµπνευσµένο βιβλίο για τη συντοµία της ζωής ως καταστατικής συνθήκης και ουσίας, από την οποία απορρέει το ίδιο το νόηµά της. Υπενθυµίζοντάς µας πόσο πολύτιµος είναι ο χρόνος που έχουµε στη διάθεσή µας, ο Rickles µάς προσκαλεί να ξανασκεφτούµε πώς θα µπορούσαµε να τον αξιοποιήσουµε στο έπακρο.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Self Help

240 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really struggled with how to rate this. As someone who likes philosophy and wants to figure out how to waste less time and live better, I'm fairly glad I read it. It's a really dense philosophical book about life and how the shortness of it gives it meaning for us. And when I say really dense, I mean really dense. It may be the densest thing I've read since graduating college, and that's included War and Peace. It made some good and interesting points about life as well as some points that I don't agree with, which isn't something I mind (as long as things aren't racist, sexist, transphobic, etc). Overall, I'd say you should only read this if you really like philosophy. It's definitely not a self-help or how-to guide, but it could end up helping. (Also, it may be short but it still took me about a month to get through.) Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for the ARC!

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book to screen as a potential present for a relative, and it was pretty dissapointing. I was hoping for discussion on being gentle, kind, intentional, and patient with yourself and instead got more of a pull yourself up by your bootstraps energy from it.

The author also uses examples of celebrities who died young, as cautionary tales, which felt icky; life is hard and people are human. We don't need to use people who went through hard stuff to prove a point.

Overall, this did not feel like a book I can recommend. Considering this was written during covid lockdown, I was anticipating a very different and gentle read.

**two stars given mostly because I love the narrator, Simon Vance.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

"By viewing the present self as simply the future self of our past self, we can project our present self onto the future self more readily. That is, our present self just is the future self of our past self. Treat every future time as equally as now because it will be now later and it will be your now."

3.5 Stars for this one. I enjoyed this quick audiobook. It is a very well-researched analysis of support for being present. It offered some interesting points about the value of incorporating empathy, emotional self-awareness, and what Rickles presents as "temporal economics" into the education system. Not only as a way to inspire observation and appreciation of life but as a way to nurture ambition and willpower. If you like philosophy and are up to face evidence that humans have basically been trying to figure out how to "be present" for many centuries, this is a good, thought-provoking listen.

Thank you to netgalley for an audio version of this book.

[Bella Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

About: leading a meaningful life & understanding the importance of death

Whilst I enjoyed this read, I probably wouldn't recommend it - I would recommend Seneca's "On The Shortness of Life" (40 pages) instead, which is what this book is premised on

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no clue how Dean Rickles wrote such an amazing book within the confines of so few pages. This book is super short, but it’s a must-read. As the title suggests, Rickles discusses how life is short and how to live a life filled with meaning and purpose. The book starts with accepting the fact that we’re all going to die, and that’s what makes life such an incredible experience. Throughout the book, he pulls from various philosophers along with his own personal wisdom, and I just loved the book oh so much. I’ll definitely be giving this one another read.

[Salma Kamal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, kind of hard to read at times. I liked the overall message of the book and thought it brought really interesting takes about the meaning of our existence and what freedom of choice really means, but it just used to much philosophical language for me lol

[Theodora (paper.bag.reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expected easy and fluffy read, got philosophical analysis with references and plenty of food for thought. Not a typical self-help book in any way. Academically minded nerds and philosophy fans would approve of

[Mitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just like real life, this book offers only mild guidance. Better off switching to the Camus-side of existential life advice.

+ Seneca’s very broad but nevertheless important advice that its not the length of life that matters, but what we do with it.
+Classy narrator voice

[Cornelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read and would make a cheeky (but still very thoughtful) little birthday present for that friend with whom you enjoy having late-night conversations about philosophy and the meaning of it all.

While the title might lead you to believe this is an innocent self-help book, it is, in fact, infused with serious philosophy and—most surprisingly—numerous (LOTS!) nods to depth psychology (Jung and co.). Yet, everything is presented with a lucidity that appeals to my analytical mind. Or, as the author so aptly put it, the book peels off the new-agey layer from it all.

Ultimately, this turned out to be a stimulating and rewarding read, despite some reviewers "accusing" it of being "dense."

[Elina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Η ζωή είναι μικρή, το ξέρουμε, αλλά αυτό το βιβλιαράκι την κάνει ακόμα πιο μικρή. Δεν ξέρω αν έχει να προσφέρει κάτι παραπάνω απ' όσα ήδη γνωρίζουμε. Ο συγγραφέας το έγραψε την περίοδο του εγκλεισμού της covid. Φαντάζομαι το είχε ανάγκη. Λείπει κάτι ουσιαστικό, ενώ μοιάζει με παρουσίαση μαθήματος καθώς βρίθει από αποσπάσματα άλλων σπουδαίων συγγραφέων και φιλοσόφων όπως ο Σενέκας κλπ. Επίσης, προσωπικά δεν αντέχω να βλέπω προτάσεις του τύπου..."αυτό θα το δούμε και στο επόμενο κεφάλαιο". Hellooooo θα το καταλάβουμε όταν το δούμε....Σορυ, δεν κρατήθηκα...

[kin · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know when yo ask your dad what the forecast is for tomorrow and it goes into a lecture about inflation and conspiracies surrounding a president 50 years ago?

This book was essentially a grown man, mansplaining for 3 hours. I could feel his hoarse voice ripping out my ear drums and it was not a pleasant read.

Maybe 1 or 2 things were useful but it’s not even worth reading.. I’m surprised I didn’t dnf this tbh

[Naomi ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed that this was more philosopher's based and not just some guy talking. fun and i probably will revisit

[Stephanie Geer · Rating 2 out of 5]

so hard to follow.

[MKF · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like a complete idiot that parts of this book was so difficult for me to understand. It seems simple enough but I had to constantly reread parts over and over trying to make sense of what I was reading. I almost gave up and I even asked my husband to read it and explain it to me. But, I slogged through parts that was easy to grasp and parts that hurt my brain trying to figure out what I was reading. I bet other readers will enjoy this book and understand it and I'll just be the dumb one who didn't get it.

[steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

The tag line for this book is somewhat misleading. I didn't find this book a guide to making life more meaningful. Instead, it focused on how death is what makes our existence meaningful because our time is finite. In terms of guidance, well, a lot of philosophical concepts were explored.

Rickles distinguishes between existing and living. Mainly the book focused on how we should peel back our subconscious so we can better understand our behaviours. By doing this, the goal is to connect with the true core of ourselves and then act in alignment with this self in order to achieve an authentically lived life.

Concepts around mindfulness and living in the present are also included as you'd expect however, there was no motivating force which really stirred anything in me which was a bit disappointing.

I liked the concept of the decision tree and how we impact our live and the universe based on the decisions we make (and don't make). The whole need to grow up and accept responsibility for our lives (Senex archetype) rather than waiting for a better future and trying to avoid choice (Puer aeternus archetype) resonated. Having the ability to identify more wholly with our future selves and see ourselves as one being impacted by our past selves rung true as well but I can't say there was really any key actionable takeaway here. Just wake up and start behaving differently - that is, better!

I think that's what made this book problematic for me. I was hoping for something inspirational and this wasn't that book. I guess Rickles tries to encourage us to make decisions in alignment with our core selves and take radical acceptance of those decisions. It just doesn't sound like a very fun time, spoken like a true Puer!

[Kelly Brill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks, Luke, for the recommendation!

A wise book - I appreciate the reminders it contains! Here are some of my notes:

Quote from the I Ching - “Unlimited possibilities are not suited to man: if they existed, his life would only dissolve into the boundless.”

A new look at the concepts in Seneca’s classic, On the Shortness of Life.

A long life doesn’t necessarily mean a vital life.

To have a good journey, we often need a good map.

Our lives gain much of their meaning from an unexpressed belief in a “collective afterlife” that will keep the world going…

There is wisdom in balancing how much we live for the present and how much we live for the future.

Make your future a creative endeavor. Responsibility for your future and authenticity in bringing about a future that is well-aligned to your character. The future’s plasticity is key. We can do much to mold it with action. Your life is your own creation, a kind of malleable sculpture that you must carve away at right now in the correct way to get the results you desire. Carve with deep deliberation, not impulsively.

Individuation.

Do you want to be passive and let the world happen to you? Or do you want to be active and let you happen to the world?

Individuation, according to Jung is about getting beneath consciousness. How do we bring unconscious elements into the open air, to become whole? If we don’t, we’re living someone else’s life. Unearthing through dreams, active imagination and other symbolic work. The goal of individuation is to become whole.

Unless one. is living authentically and with purpose, one is not really living at all.

Warning against “the provisional life” - viewing your current life circumstances, your projects, your relationships as mere placeholder, waiting for things to change - or wanting to do something different but never actually doing so…always looking elsewhere, to the future, to other people, to other ways of being, and never settling and committing to what you have, or putting in the time and energy to actively achieve what you want.

The provisional life is an inauthentic life in the sense that some inner picture is not being realized in the world. However, most often there is no clear picture in the first place, only a hazy feeling of general discontent that things are not as they ought to be…

Crucial to development is the courageous advance into new life by killing off old life. This pruning feels very vulnerable.

Individuation is at the heart of pruning of the branches of possibility.

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child - our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” (Thich That Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness)

Most of us are not present. We are sleepwalking. The opposite of mindfulness is minds often scattered. Only with the ability to step back can one appreciate the ordinary miracle all around and live a truly examined life.

David Foster Wallace: “genuine freedom means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to…”

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top Three Quotes from Novel:

• “Death itself is the source of life’s meaning—
Calling us to really live, to force us to think about what kind of life we want, about who we are, to know ourselves and act in the world accordingly; Careful in how we create its future.“

• “It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”

• “Without beginning or end, birth or death, there is no time either.
Timelessness, in the sense of time never ending, never beginning, is a stagnant nothing. It is absolutely uninteresting.
Life is possessed by tremendous tenacity;
Even so, its presence remains conditional.
As it has a beginning, so it will have an end.
Life, for this very reason is exceedingly enhanced in value.”

FAVORITE TOPIC PRAISE:
— I especially love the discussion on Short-term Bias in our own lives

“We are, in general, better to our present-selves, or five-seconds-into-the-future selves, than we are to our five-years-into-the-future selves.”


Review Explanation:

I see a lot of reviews about how this book is not for everyone. While I do believe that to be true, I’d argue this book is still worth the read. This book feels, in my opinion, the kind of book you pick up when you need it most. If you are feeling good with your life, or just content, you might not receive the message as deeply as someone who feels lost or stagnant in their own mind with the waves of life.

Although, for some, if you’re not looking for deep philosophical examples to back the “facts of life”, this might take some points off for you.

(Personally, I’m the sort of individual that reads novels like this to feel inspired; not to fix my problems, but to help me think on a deeper level in how I can lead my own life by living slower and being more conscious of my decisions/experiences.)

This book will not fix your problems or give you the playbook on getting your life on track. But if you’re an individual that has a habit of seeing ways you live as a “glass half empty” and find yourself perplexed with where you are in life, I believe this book could be enlightening by help you see things from a “glass half full” perspective & encourage slower, more meaningful living.

[Kent · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, this book is about the shortness of life I guess. I know at several points while reading I wished my life was a lot shorter. It was supposed to convey how to approach life realizing that death and limitations were a good thing. It allows humans to be intentional about how we live our life as our decisions actually mean something. “Limit gives birth to freedom.” There were some good one liners and advice that I captured but I have heard it explained elsewhere and in a much easier to swallow pill. I also found that there were tons of quoting others. It ruined the flow and made me think what thoughts did the author contribute. This read like a textbook from a highly pretentious college. It was very, very dense and difficult to read. I struggled and rolled my eyes multiple times. Some days I could only read a couple pages before I had to step away. Dean Rickles was unnecessarily lofty and his prose was meandering. I also question some of his beliefs around religion and that without humans the universe would be pointless. I don’t want to spend any additional time thinking about this book as it has already taken too much of my life. Do not read. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman is a thousand times better than Life is Short.

[David Garnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a short easy read, especially if you have some modest knowlege of philosophy and psychology. The thesis of the book seems to be that death is a good thing compared to having lives that go on forever or at least significantly longer than they do now. The inevitability of death forces us to make significant choices in our life that we would not make if we thought we could escape death or put it off endlessly. Death forces us to ask about what makes our life meaningful.

Monasteries encourage the monks to think often of their death, not to be morbid but to help them live life fully and purposely in the present and not waste their time or lives. There is a human temptation to put off thoughts of death, to deny it, but thinking about it actually helps move us to do the things now in this life we most need to do. As I remembered this, this book came across as more religious than I expected, though there is no overt appeal to religion in the book.

[John Crippen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quoted and recommended by Oliver Burkeman, this short book by a professor of philosophy of modern physics has almost nothing to do with physics (the author pointedly disagrees with the scientific (or scientistic?) understanding of determinism) and lots to do with how Stoicism, Existentialism, and Jungian psychoanalysis can help us understand the role of death (limits) in finding meaning in life (freedom). I was not expecting an author whose other books are about string theory and quantum gravity to be so pro-Jung and so anti-determinism. Would love to hear Dean Rickles and Brian Klaas chat about free will one day...

[Berengere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I come across a book that I immediately re-read - parts of it, and work on systematically, almost like a recipe, as a sure way to improve my life. This is one of these books.
In particular, I have thought a lot about the things/people/projects I am not fully committing to - the "placeholders" in my life, why that is and how to change it (either by fully committing, or by disengaging, taking actions and not only decisions, and committing to that process).
"If you view your current life circumstances, your projects, your relationships as mere placeholders, waiting for things to change or wanting to do something different but never actually doing so, then your are living the provisional life." that is a life I do not want to live, as it's contrary to some of my strongest guiding principles.

[Antonio Gallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main message of Life Is Short: An Appropriately Brief Guide to Making It More Meaningful is that the shortness of life is what makes it meaningful. The book explores how death limits our options and forces us to make choices that give our lives meaning. It emphasizes the importance of living authentically and with purpose, warning against "the provisional life" and encouraging readers to commit to what they have and actively achieve what they want. The book also provides practical tips for living a more fulfilling life, such as balancing how much we live for the present and how much we live for the future, making our future a creative endeavor, and taking responsibility for our future by bringing about a future that is well-aligned to our character.

[L J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the discussion about future me. I am future me. I am the carpenter of my own soul, and so are you. I am also a BIG fan of a quick read. Skip to the end, etc., etc.!

The older I get, and the more I read and learn about different things, the greater the gratitude I feel for having read those things-- that little jolt of recognition about the Marshmallow Test or some snippet about Heidegger. It feels like a large-scale clustering: gathering twigs in service of some greater end.

Book also provided a link to this TOTALLY INSANE website: https://mainfacts.com/time-life-count....

[Kit Ledvina · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Life is Short Dean Rickles makes a case for why the limitation of a short life makes living meaningful. I’m not sure who the target audience of this book would be. It’s too complicated and technical for most people to read casually, and not novel or complex enough for those who are typically interested in philosophy. I didn’t dislike reading this but compared to 4,000 weeks, another short book covering the same material, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for access to the audiobook in exchange for my opinion.

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho el libro, ya que me gusta la filosofía y me encuentro pensando en cómo hacer para sacarle provecho al tiempo que tenemos en la tierra. Hay ideas y conceptos muy interesantes sobre los límites, nuestro propósito, y sobre cómo debemos ser más conscientes para crear la vida que queremos vivir. Sin embargo, hay capítulos en donde el autor explica conceptos que son demasiado difíciles de entender para alguien que no sea académico en filosofía, por ende, a veces se hace difícil seguir leyendo.

[Montse Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook about 5 times end to end. Not because it was convoluted and hard to understand, but because it was so rich in information that I needed several passes before I felt done with the book.

This book is full of philosophy and psycology, exploring the work of many of the big names, including Seneca and Carl Jung. It was a lot more intellectual than I expected, and that was a pleasant surprise. Not your typical self-help book. Rather, its a philosophical crash course on the meaning of life.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it hadn’t been such a crazy short audiobook, I wouldn’t have finished it. Although I found all of the philosophical ideas explored in this book interesting, it felt too surface level to really hold any meaning. Loved the idea of a short book on life being short, but you can’t do a deep dive into philosophy in a really short time (at least not successfully, anyway). Loved the narrator! Thank you Libro.fm for the ALC!

[Beatrice Braun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another bit of unnecessary pop psychology ....at least it was short! Rickles
references or quotes the works of past writer philosophers psycologists etc
One probably needs familiarity with at least some of these works to make sense of the points he's making.
A scattered somewhat frenetic compilation of the profound work of others

[Mark Moloney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!

- Freedom paradoxically means limitation.
- According to David Foster Wallace, freedom means the ability to define how we acquire meaning from experience.
- Accepting our finitude and limitation in the face of death allows us to construct meaning from life.

❤️

Life is short - and this book is shorter!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this while commuting, and didn’t bother to pay constant attention. Thus, I’m not even sure if it can count as properly having read it… But it’s not quite my type of book. Not because of the philosophical musings, which I enjoyed, but because the conclusions it made didn’t actually help me to feel better about dying.