On consolation to the bereaved
99:9
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.
9.
Periods of time separate us, but death levels us.
The period which lies between our first day and our last is shifting and uncertain: if you reckon it by its troubles, it is long even to a lad, if by its speed, it is scanty even to a greybeard.
Everything is slippery, treacherous, and more shifting than any weather.
All things are tossed about and shift into their opposites at the bidding of Fortune; amid such a turmoil of mortal affairs nothing but death is surely in store for anyone.
And yet all men complain about the one thing wherein none of them is deceived.
Book: Moral Letters Vol III
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On consolation to the bereaved
Location: Chapter 99, Section 9
Content:
9.
Periods of time separate us, but death levels us.
The period which lies between our first day and our last is shifting and uncertain: if you reckon it by its troubles, it is long even to a lad, if by its speed, it is scanty even to a greybeard.
Everything is slippery, treacherous, and more shifting than any weather.
All things are tossed about and shift into their opposites at the bidding of Fortune; amid such a turmoil of mortal affairs nothing but death is surely in store for anyone.
And yet all men complain about the one thing wherein none of them is deceived.