It Is Not That We Have

This is the opening argument of De Brevitate Vitae, written around 49 AD and addressed to Paulinus, likely Pompeius Paulinus, the prefect of Rome's grain supply. Seneca's central thesis is radical: life isn't short - we just squander it on trivial pursuits. The essay became one of the most widely read works of Stoic philosophy, later influencing Marcus Aurelius's own reflections on mortality in the Meditations.