How to Have a Life: An Ancient Guide to Using Our Time Wisely

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers

by Seneca, James S. Romm (Editor)

A vibrant new translation of Seneca's "On the Shortness of Life," a pointed reminder to make the most of our time



Who doesn't worry sometimes that smart phones, the Internet, and TV are robbing us of time and preventing us from having a life? How can we make the most of our time on earth? In the first century AD, the Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger offered one of the most famous answers to that question in his essay "On the Shortness of Life"--a work that has more to teach us today than ever before. In How to Have a Life, James Romm presents a vibrant new translation of Seneca's brilliant essay, plus two Senecan letters on the same theme, complete with the original Latin on facing pages and an inviting introduction.

With devastating satiric wit, skillfully captured in this translation, Seneca lampoons the ways we squander our time and fail to realize how precious it is. We don't allow people to steal our money, yet we allow them to plunder our time, or else we give it away ourselves in useless, idle pursuits. Seneca also describes how we can make better use of our brief days and years. In the process, he argues, we can make our lives longer, or even everlasting, because to live a real life is to attain a kind of immortality.

A counterweight to the time-sucking distractions of the modern world, How to Have a Life offers priceless wisdom about making our time--and our lives--count.

Genres: Philosophy, Classics, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Personal Development, Psychology, Inspirational

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 50

About the author

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca or Seneca the Younger); ca. 4 BC – 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero, who later forced him to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to have him assassinated.

Reviews

[Tullius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though short, this philosophical book is packed with stoic wisdom that carries through the ages.
A particular quote is: “Life is divided into three periods: what was, what is, and what shall be. Of these three, the present is short, the future is uncertain, and the past only is certain.”

On the surface this comes across as pessimistic, but the context of the belief system is important, stoicisn is a way of life. Seneca goes on to explain that though the future is unknown, this should not dissuade you from achieving your goals or pursuing your dreams. Seneca makes examples of Pompey, Caesar and others quickly in this sense. Take this wisdom and do what you will with it. That's the point of philosophy.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This inspired me to be more intentional with my time! Not a mind blowing book but a good read that I will read again.

“Time didn’t used to seem so fleeting to me. Now, its pace seems beyond belief, either because I sense the approach of the finish line or because I’ve started to recognize and count up what I’ve lost”

“The goodness of life does not lie in its length but in the use made of it”

[Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to read more Seneca, and more of the great ancient philosophers.

Lessons from this short read:

Time is the most valuable asset we posses, yet it is often the asset we squander the easiest (more easily than money and other worldly resources). Not only is time the most valuable asset, it is also the most fleeting asset. It keeps going, at the same pace, whether we like it or not. So make the most of it.

The best way to widen our lives (widen rather than expand, because no one can expand time), is by learning. He frames this as “wisdom” or “philosophy” - what I understand it as is, all of history is in our hands for the taking. By learning from those who came before us, we make our lives more interesting & fulfilling. Paired with this, is a duty to share that learning, and I take that as not just sharing, but engaging with others. Relationships, not specifically touched on here (unless I missed it), have to be a part of widening our lives as well.

Seneca views life from his deathbed, asking himself, when I’m about to die, how can I look back on a life I am proud of? As fatalistic as this is, I like it. It creates a sense of urgency I haven’t gotten from anywhere else. Random example along these lines - Jeff Bezos, when considering starting Amazon or staying in his high-paying PE job, asked himself “what would I regret not doing when I’m 80 years old?” Only then, did the answer become clear to him. Jeff 🤝 Seneca.

This is a book that changed the way I think.

[ChrissyBby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seneca is one of the big ones, as we all know. This edition gives a nice little insight into his philosophy, providing a full translation of "De brevitate vitae" and some of his Epistles. I find the translation very well-written (unlike SOME others that seemingly just want to flex) and understandable. The annotations provide interesting insights into the historical context. All in all quite good, I'm just kinda torn if I can agree with Seneca's takes.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for the translation and presentation.

I didn’t care for the negativity or the hypocritical, judgmental ideas surrounding what is an acceptable use of one’s time. It wasn’t particularly practical or insightful. I guess I’ll go waste more of my time obsessing about music and reading now.

[Chad Manske · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seneca's "How to Have a Life: An Ancient Guide to Using Our Time Wisely" offers a timeless perspective on one of humanity's most precious resources: time. This ancient Roman philosopher's insights resonate powerfully in our modern era, where distractions abound and the pace of life seems ever-accelerating. Seneca's central thesis is both simple and profound: life is not short, but we make it so through our misuse of time. He argues that many of us squander our days on trivial pursuits, procrastination, and excessive worry about the future, while neglecting the present moment. With biting wit and keen observation, Seneca lampoons the ways we allow others to plunder our time or give it away ourselves in useless, idle pursuits. The philosopher's advice is practical and applicable across millennia. He urges readers to examine their lives critically, asking what proof they have that they're truly living rather than merely existing. Seneca advocates for purposeful living, emphasizing that the quality of our time matters more than its quantity. One of the most striking aspects of Seneca's work is his emphasis on the finite nature of time. He encourages readers to live with a sense of urgency, not out of anxiety, but out of a deep appreciation for life's brevity. This perspective serves as a powerful antidote to the modern tendency to procrastinate or lose ourselves in trivial distractions. Seneca's wisdom extends beyond time management to encompass broader life philosophy. He promotes the cultivation of virtue, resilience in the face of adversity, and the pursuit of wisdom as key components of a well-lived life. While some may find Seneca's tone occasionally harsh or his standards lofty, his message is ultimately one of empowerment. He reminds us that we have the ability to make our lives meaningful and even "everlasting" through the wise use of our time. In an age of constant connectivity and information overload, Seneca's ancient wisdom provides a much-needed call to mindfulness and intentional living. His words challenge us to reconsider our priorities and to live each day as if it were our last – not in fear, but in fullness.

[Benjamin Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little listen. Always appreciate Seneca, and this series is a good one.
Seneca’s main point is that time is our only true possession, subject only to our own wills and not to fortune—though it’s duration is unknown. What sets his treatise apart from the crowd is his rhetorical device of considering only some time as truly lived—that which is actually spent in the cultivation or use of wisdom. Those who spend their lives pursuing pleasures or ambition waste it and die in what was really their childhood. It’s a very effectively written treatise: Seneca is a prose master and a reminder of the value of Silver. However, his biggest fault (as is often the case with Stoicism) is how self-centered it becomes: he views most acts of service as a waste. The Stoic may well be baptized, but in doing so he must learn to die to himself and live to God. In so doing, he will find that service unto him is often service unto the least of those his brethren.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will be re reading. Definitely puts day to day life in perspective.

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars; these guides have something unassuming and likeable; opening up ancient texts for modern day readers to enjoy; and you're always struck by how relevant these observations and experiences are; besides a millennium or two there is really nothing that separates our experiences in life from theirs.

[Chris Bros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty mid. But enjoyed it.

One long rant on memento mori, while saying prestige is not worth wasting your life on - Even while Seneca himself was in the elite.

[Waiis Su · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quotes I'd like to remember:

Anticipation is the greatest obstacle to living; it depends on tomorrow while squandering today.

They squander the day in awaiting the night and the night in fearing the day.

Teach me that the goodness of life does not lie in its length but in the use made of it and that it can hap- pen-very often does happen-that those who lived long lived too little. Tell me as I'm going to sleep, "You might not wake up,” and tell me as I wake up, "You might not go to sleep again." Tell me as I go out, “You might not come back,” and tell me as I come back, "You might never leave."

You're wrong if you think that only at sea is life separated from death by a tiny distance. The gap is equally narrow everywhere.

[Grent Mok · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had higher expectations for this, and as a result, I found myself disappointed. There are only a few sentences that I genuinely appreciate from this.

[John Matthew IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the concept behind this book: print a book with an ancient text in its original language and give a translation for those who cannot read it. Add a useful introduction and helpful notes. Print it all in a wee hardcover that just feels great in your hands.

HOWEVER, I am not sure I have learned much on how to use my time wisely. Lots of examples of what not to do but beyond reading philosophy, I am not sure what positive advice is given.

It was a two-hour read, so it is time well spent.

p. 1: "Life deserts us when we're just getting ready for life."

p. 7: "It's only a sliver of life we actually live." | "Exigua pars est vitae qua vivimus."

p. 17: "You live as though you'll be alive forever, not taking account of your human fragility; you don't notice how much time has gone by; you squander it as though from a full and heaping store, while that very day that's spent on some person or thing might be your last one."

p. 17-19: "Aren't you ashamed to set aside the remnants of life for yourself and devote to higher thought only that portion of time that can't be put to any business matter?"

p. 47: "People put a high value on getting salaries and handouts, and devote their effort, their labor, their zeal to these things; but no one values time; they spend it lavishly, as though it were free."

p. 53: "Live right now!"

p. 81: "No one can doubt that those who keep busy studying useless literature expend a lot of effort for no accomplishment."

p. 89: pomerium: "In legal terms, Rome existed only within its pomerium; everything beyond it was simply territory belonging to Rome." - Wikipedia

p. 105: "Shortest and most troubled of all lives are those of people who forget the past, disregard the present, and fear the future."

p. 149: "That's why I'm more outraged that some people spend most of this small stretch of time on empty pursuits--an amount of time that, even if it were very carefully guarded, can't accommodate even what's needed. Cicero says that even if his life span were doubled, he wouldn't have enough time to read the lyric poets...."

[Massimo Pigliucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another insightful entry into practical philosophy courtesy of the ongoing Princeton Press series, Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers. I've read and commented on a good number of the entries, and they are all worth checking out. This one focuses on the Stoic philosopher Seneca's On the Shortness of Life, one of his best writings. It is concerned with the basic Stoic notion that life is precious precisely because it has a limited, and unknown to each of us, duration. That is what makes every one of our actions, every hour we spend doing or not doing something, so relevant. Seneca then provides us with a number of examples -- from the culture of his time, and yet perfectly recognizable even today -- of people who complain about the shortness of their life but nonetheless willfully waste the majority of it. Time, Seneca says, is the only good that one may lend but can never be paid back, so that we need to be very careful to whom or what we lend it. Too many people these days -- just like in Roman times -- are busy for the sake of being busy, without pausing even occasionally to reflect on what they are doing and why. This theme was so important to Seneca that he returned to it several years after having written On the Shortness of Life, in two of his famous Letters to his friend Lucilius, which translator James Romm also includes in this volume. I assure you, reading it will most definitely not be a waste of time!

[Bob Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you unsure how to have a good life? Want to make the most use of your time? The first century Roman Philosopher Seneca has the answer for you.

Seneca is a thinker who thought a great deal about time. He noticed that those who have the best sense of time are those who can handle the past, present and future in a rational way and hold them equally in their proper place. He notices that those who spend too much time in the past miss out on the present and those who worry about the future stress out and miss out on the present. Those who are too attentive to the present fail to carefully plan for the future.

Seneca says that the secret to life is to focus on the important things and to realize that time is fleeting.

This translation is very easy, and I suspect is more of a paraphrase than a word for word translation . However, this makes it more enjoyable to read. What is amazing is how practical the advice is for having been written so long ago.

This is a great little book to introduce large concepts. I highly encourage it to everyone and I hope that people will engage with this book.

Grade: A+

[Μαρία Κυπιρτίδου · Rating 3 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο παραθέτει ένα μεγάλο κεφάλαιο στην ζωή μας και αυτό είναι ότι το πολυτιμότερο αγαθό είναι ο χρόνος. Σύμφωνα με τη φράση του βιβλίου «Μόνο ένα ψήγμα ζωής ζούμε ουσιαστικά, όλα τα υπόλοιπα δεν είναι ζωή αλλά μόνο χρόνος» αν αξιοποιήσουμε σωστά τον χρόνο μας τότε θα ζούμε αιώνια, θα είμαστε αθάνατοι αλλά αν τον αξιοποιήσουμε με λάθος τρόπος τότε τον έχουμε κατασπαταλήσει άδικα.

Το βιβλίο μας γνωστοποιεί κάτι αυτονόητο το οποίο δεν περνάει από το μυαλό όλων των ανθρώπων. Ότι δηλαδή δεν χρειάζεται να ζούμε για πάντα, χρειάζεται να ζούμε γεμάτα χρόνια ώστε όταν πλησιάζει το τέλος να είμαστε ευχαριστημένοι.

Πιο συγκεκριμένα το γνωστοποιεί εξαιρετικά στις πρώτες σελίδες καθώς όμως προχωράει προστίθενται λεπτομέρειες των χρόνων του Σένεκα οι οποίες δεν είναι ελκυστικές και σημερινές με αποτέλεσμα να βαριέσαι. Το βιβλίο αποτελείται από 98 σελίδες ενώ το νόημα θα μπορούσε να αποδοθεί σε πολύ λιγότερες αφαιρώντας όλες τις περιττές λεπτομέρειες που σε κάνουν να πλήττεις σε ορισμένα σημεία.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our time is not short, but we squander much of it.

Life's not short when we get it, but we make it so. We are wasteful of it. Life is long if you know how to make use of it.

The present time is so very brief, always in motion, flowing and rushing ahead. It has ceased to exist before it has arrived.

The greatest part of life slips past for those who fail to get things done, a large part for those who do nothing and all of it for those who do something other than what they ought.

Withdraw to a more peaceful harbor.

Pursue the one goal of learning how to live.

Embrace every hour.

Nothing belongs to you, only time is your own.

[Frobisher Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful little book from the ancient Roman author and statesman Seneca on how to live our fleeting lives in a sensible and worthwhile way. He gives impeccable advice about not wasting time on minutiae, not letting demands and duties overwhelm your schedule and tax your time, not endlessly striving for more and more, and not letting frivolity or worry dominate your days. Advice which, the introduction informs us, Seneca himself often did not live up to. The way he puts things is very poetic and interesting, and I readily recommend this to those who want timeless advice on how make the most of our far too short lives.

[Levi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore the writings of Seneca. He wasn’t without fault, but his letters and essays surrounding the importance of time sing true to me.

This will be my sixth or seventh trip through the shortness of life, but James Romm has introduced me to Seneca’s Moral Epistle, which will now stay firmly rooted in my library for years to come.

There is so much wisdom within these pages, which have taught me more than any human I’ve met in my waking life. I can’t recommend these writings enough.

[suriathrh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good reminder of how much time we waste on fleeting pleasures, only to complain about how short life feels. Life isn’t short—it’s brief, but it can still be fulfilling depending on how you choose to spend it. Of course, I don’t agree with some of his extreme views, but there are good takeaways. Reflecting on modern life, I believe we should focus on nurturing our soul, mind, and body. If religion is part of your life, dedicating time to that and the afterlife can also bring meaning. Overall, it’s a thought-provoking read that encourages living with intention.

[Scott Satterwhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a lot from this book, as with much of Seneca's writings. I liked the intro to this, as well as the texts themselves, but really appreciated the epistles which close out the book. Why are we not always preparing for death, knowing it's coming for all of us? Sadly, the story of his death did not sound like a noble ending, but I guess that's what happens when you serve Nero. At least his words live on, though I'm not sure he or any of the other stoics cared. Either way, some good advice in this book.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The great Stoic thinker Seneca wrote "On the Shortness of Life" in the first century AD and its lessons are even more important in the age of television and the Internet. Seneca is witty and caustic and his targets have easy comparisons in the present day, the people who miss out on life and beauty and true wisdom in the search for money, fame, and pleasure. A short pleasant read that includes a couple of excerpts from other related pieces by Seneca

[Rich Deyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

And so, dear Lucilius, make haste to live, and treat each day as a life in itself. A person who prepares himself like this, making the daily round his entire life, is quite secure. Those who live on hope find every present moment slipping away; they are taken over by greed and the fear of death, a most miserable state that makes everything else quite miserable. (Seneca, Letters 101.8-10)

[Theo Milos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Seneca and his philosophy. Do the most out of every day. Remind yourself that you can die whenever. Embrace the hours you get, and be grateful for it. Seneca believes that life is what you make out of it. It is not necessarily short but rather what you fill it with. The masses spend time on useless things. They fill their head with a bunch of nonsense.

...

[Larry (LPosse1) · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the Seneca that you need!
I know these little Princeton Press books are short and can leave you wanting. Seneca is divided into many volumes but we all need to understand the translators focus. They take the best of the author and match it to a theme. They do a great job of it as well. Enjoy!!

[Dre Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Tell me as I'm going to sleep, you might not wake up.
Tell me as i wake up, you might not go go to sleep again.
Tell me as i go out that i may not come back, and tell me as i come back that i may never leave.
You're wrong if you think that obly at sea life and death is separated by only a tiny distance. The gap is equally narrow everywhere."

[Wanda Singela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this translation of Seneca's "On the Shortness of Life". Accessible, and cool - also appreciated the added epistles at the end :)

I finished reading this book having attained some inner peace. I now believe that my life will be long enough for the things I need to do here, I just need to now live well and not waste time on silly things.

[Mukund · Rating 4 out of 5]

"" Tell me as I sleep you may not wake up and tell me as I wake up you may not go to sleep again — tell me as I go out you may never come back, tell me as I come back you may never leave again — you're wrong if you think only at sea is life separated from death by a tiny distance, the gap is equally narrow everywhere.

[Lawrrence Lozano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished in one sitting. This book reminds us of the importance of time's value. Seneca provides samples on how might we look at time in the sense that it has value tather than something that we just flows. This book makes me want to read more of Seneca's writing.

[Lysistrata · Rating 5 out of 5]

In almost every line and every chapter, I feel that I was scolded and criticized by Seneca how I squandered my time. People at present seem to suffer from the same problems at people in Seneca’s time. We wasted our time on bullshit jobs and, hence, lives are short.