On the Shortness of Life

The Stoic philosopher Seneca offers piercing and profound insights into human nature and a vision of the good life, so that one may say with him “Life is long, if you know how to live it.”

Seneca (5 BC to AD 65) was born in Cordoba and raised in Rome, where he was trained in rhetoric and philosophy. He was a tutor and later an advisor to Nero, but later Nero forced him to take his own life. His stoic and serene suicide is portrayed in countless paintings.