On the quality, as contrasted with the length, of life
93:12
Book Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Book Description: The final volume of Seneca's moral letters. Common Stoic themes emerge again and again: the unreliability of fortune, the ability to form Stoic resolve, and the importance of virtue.
12.
Do you regard as more fortunate the fighter who is slain on the last day of the games than one who goes to his death in the middle of the festivities?
Do you believe that anyone is so foolishly covetous of life that he would rather have his throat cut in the dressing-room than in the amphitheatre?
It is by no longer an interval than this that we precede one another.
Death visits each and all; the slayer soon follows the slain.
It is an insignificant trifle, after all, that people discuss with so much concern.
And anyhow, what does it matter for how long a time you avoid that which you cannot escape?
Farewell.
Book: Moral Letters Vol III
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the quality, as contrasted with the length, of life
Location: Chapter 93, Section 12
Content:
12.
Do you regard as more fortunate the fighter who is slain on the last day of the games than one who goes to his death in the middle of the festivities?
Do you believe that anyone is so foolishly covetous of life that he would rather have his throat cut in the dressing-room than in the amphitheatre?
It is by no longer an interval than this that we precede one another.
Death visits each and all; the slayer soon follows the slain.
It is an insignificant trifle, after all, that people discuss with so much concern.
And anyhow, what does it matter for how long a time you avoid that which you cannot escape?
Farewell.