I have passed through all the ills and dangers of the flesh; but nothing seems to me more troublesome than this.
And naturally so; for anything else may be called illness; but this is a sort of continued “last gasp.” Hence physicians call it “practising how to die.” For some day the breath will succeed in doing what it has so often essayed.
Book: Moral Letters Vol I
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On asthma and death
Location: Chapter 54, Section 2
Content:
2.
I have passed through all the ills and dangers of the flesh; but nothing seems to me more troublesome than this.
And naturally so; for anything else may be called illness; but this is a sort of continued “last gasp.” Hence physicians call it “practising how to die.” For some day the breath will succeed in doing what it has so often essayed.