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Moral Letters Vol III

Seneca

§ Section 11

On consolation to the bereaved

99:11

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.

11.

How much of this time is taken up with weeping, how much with worry!

How much with prayers for death before death arrives, how much with our health, how much with our fears!

How much is occupied by our years of inexperience or of useless endeavour!

And half of all this time is wasted in sleeping.

Add, besides, our toils, our griefs, our dangers—and you will comprehend that even in the longest life real living is the least portion thereof.