6. “But,” you say, “it is a nuisance to be looking death in the face!” Death, however, should be looked in the face by young and old alike.
We are not summoned according to our rating on the censor’s list.
Moreover, no one is so old that it would be improper for him to hope for another day of existence.
And one day, mind you, is a stage on life’s journey.
Our span of life is divided into parts; it consists of large circles enclosing smaller.
One circle embraces and bounds the rest; it reaches from birth to the last day of existence.
The next circle limits the period of our young manhood.
The third confines all of childhood in its circumference.
Again, there is, in a class by itself, the year; it contains within itself all the divisions of time by the multiplication of which we get the total of life.
The month is bounded by a narrower ring.
The smallest circle of all is the day; but even a day has its beginning and its ending, its sunrise and its sunset.
Book: Moral Letters Vol I
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On old age
Location: Chapter 12, Section 6
Content:
6. “But,” you say, “it is a nuisance to be looking death in the face!” Death, however, should be looked in the face by young and old alike.
We are not summoned according to our rating on the censor’s list.
Moreover, no one is so old that it would be improper for him to hope for another day of existence.
And one day, mind you, is a stage on life’s journey.
Our span of life is divided into parts; it consists of large circles enclosing smaller.
One circle embraces and bounds the rest; it reaches from birth to the last day of existence.
The next circle limits the period of our young manhood.
The third confines all of childhood in its circumference.
Again, there is, in a class by itself, the year; it contains within itself all the divisions of time by the multiplication of which we get the total of life.
The month is bounded by a narrower ring.
The smallest circle of all is the day; but even a day has its beginning and its ending, its sunrise and its sunset.