 Around 49 CE, the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote an essay to his father-in-law Paul Anus, called On the Shortness of Life. This essay, or book if you will, is brief, but don't let its brevity fool you, because somehow, Seneca manages to pack 100 chapters worth of value in just 20. My aim for this video is to provide a brief summary without subtracting from the value of these chapters. At the end, I'll be going over what I believe to be the most impactful chapter. I'll be breaking this down into eight key lessons that I believe Seneca would like us to take from his words. Let's get started with chapter number one. Life is not short if handled properly. In chapter one, Seneca likens life to wealth, in that if it is entrusted to a good guardian increases by use, but when it comes into the hands of a bad owner is scattered in a moment. Now, I suppose in order to learn how to handle our time properly, we should first learn how to handle it improperly. Luckily enough, Seneca in chapter two goes over a multitude of reasons of how people waste their lives. I will not name them all, but it instead will give you a brief quote on the subject from Seneca. He said that, One man is possessed by an avarice that is insatiable. Another lay toilsome devotion to tasks that are useless. One man is besotted with wine, another paralyzed by sloth. Looking at these vices brings us to lesson number two. Run your life. Don't let your life run you. Throughout our lives, countless temptations will seek to persuade us down false dirt roads that inevitably lead us nowhere. And most complied with these temptations, they take the back seat while vice takes the wheel. In chapter seven, Seneca gives us a great example of a voyager out at sea. This person, while out at sea for a long time, has been tossed around by a storm and has made little progress to his original destination. If you let desires run your life, surely they'll take the opportunity to lead you astray. If you can see control to others, you'll be swept along in their own ambition. Make your own choices, analyze what others tell you. And if no path is open for you to take, carve out your own. Let's go on to lesson number six. Time is your most valuable possession. Countless times throughout the chapters, Seneca stresses that time is without a doubt beyond any argument the most valuable thing in our possession. The problem is he said that we don't realize it until it's all passed away. In chapter eight, Seneca said, Men trifle with the most precious thing in the world. But they are blind to it because it is an incorporeal thing, because it does not come beneath the sight of our eyes and for this reason it is counted as a very cheap thing, nay, of almost no value at all. When you stop to think about the situation, he hits the nail right on the head. Here's something for you to think about. In chapter three, Seneca said, Men do not suffer anyone to seize their states and they rush to stones and arms if there is even the slightest dispute about their limits of their lands, yet they allow others to trespass on their life. I find this statement to be even more pressing in the modern age because not only do we have countless people vying for our time, but countless devices. Be the master of your own time, and that leads us into lesson number four. Use your time wisely, focus in on a limited number of things instead of being a busy body. Seneca said everyone agrees that no one pursuit can be successfully followed by a man who is busy with many things. There is something to be said about focus. In this life, getting to where you want to be already has enough twists and turns. It helps if you focus in on one destination. Not only does it deprive you of any future goals, it also deprives you of the present. See this quote from chapter sixteen of the book by Seneca. Those who forget the past neglect the present and fear for the future have a life that is very brief and troubled. All that is needed to fix of the present portion of this statement is focus. And as for the past portion, let's look to lesson number five. Heed the past as you heed the future. Take advantage of the wisdom of those who came before you. What is the secret to prolonging your life? According to Seneca, you add the years of your predecessors onto your own. What he means by this is you take all of the wisdom forged by their lifetime and add it to your own. In chapter fourteen, Seneca said in an eloquent passage, we may argue with Socrates, we may doubt with Garniades, find peace with Epicurus, overcome human nature with the Stoics and exceed it with the Cynics. The ability to take from the past is equal in all human beings. All we must do is look behind us. Imagine where we would be if we never took from our predecessors and instead every generation started anew. Now imagine what you can do if you add every life of your predecessor onto your own. Take all the knowledge that they had and add it to your own. With all of these benefits evident, people still fail to heed the past or they just choose not to. In chapter ten, Seneca gives us a quote on maybe why this is. He said that, they have no time to look back upon the past and even if they should have, it is not pleasant to recall something they must view with regret. Lesson number six, lofty peaks are often surrounded by thunderstorms. This lesson, probably more than any other is addressed in this book, that people who strive for high places with only wealth, fame and prosperity on their mind often are met with high resistance and high anxiety as well. This said about this, by great toil they attain what they wish and with anxiety hold on to what they attain. One example given to us by Seneca is Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The most powerful political figure in the world at the time, the emperor of Rome, he could have whatever he wanted to, except that is, the leisure. He who saw everything depending upon himself alone, who determined the fortunes of individuals and nations, thought most happily of the future day on which he should lay aside his greatness. How many do you know of who would give up anything, cast aside everything in their life, even the good to have a chance to become a king? And here we have somebody who had it all, who was a king and wanted nothing more than to cast it aside. Focus on mastering yourself first, look to be satisfied with what you already have and grateful for what you already have. Before looking to strive to a higher place, because Seneca said that look at those whose prosperity man flocked to behold. They are smothered by their blessings. To how many are riches a burden? Lesson number seven, living and existing are two very different things. What exactly is so different between the former and the latter? For Seneca's answer, let's look to number nine and sixteen of the book. He said about those who only existed. They keep themselves busily engaged in order that they may be able to live better. They spend their life in making ready to live. They flee from one pleasure to another and cannot remain fixed in one desire. Before you know it, your life has come and gone without significance. How many do you know, or how many have you seen, that when they get to the end of their life, they look back and regret on how much they procrastinated? If you want to actually live, take the lessons from this book and actually apply them to your life. Lesson number eight, time stops for no one. This one should be of no surprise to you, but in case you get caught up in life's powerful current, it's always good to have a reminder from time to time. As Seneca said in an eloquent passage in chapter eight, life will follow the path it started upon and will neither reverse nor check its course. It will make no noise, it will not remind you of its swiftness. Silent, it will glide on. It will not prolong itself at the command of a king or at the applause of the populace, just as it was started on its first day so it will run. Nowhere will it turn aside, nowhere will it delay. Find what truly makes you happy and start working toward it right now. Because unless you seize the day, it flees. And even though you seize it, it will still flee. Alright, let's briefly review the lessons that we covered in this video. Lesson one, life is not short if handled properly. Lesson two, run your life. Don't let your life run you. Lesson three, time is your most valuable resource. Lesson four, use your time wisely. Focus in on a limited number of things instead of being a busy body. Lesson five, heed the past as you heed the future. Take advantage of the wisdom of those who came before you. Lesson six, lofty peaks are often surrounded by thunderstorms. Lesson seven, living and existing are two very different things. Lesson eight, time stops for no one. Out of the 20 chapters, I would have to say that chapter 14 is probably for me the most impactful. Comment below which chapter you found most impactful. This book is incredibly short but incredibly worthwhile. I highly recommend you read it. You can watch it for free on YouTube or you can purchase it on Amazon or any other bookstore. Both are in the description below. Thanks so much for talking philosophy with me. Like and subscribe if you like the video and I'm going to leave you with this quote to keep you thinking. It takes the whole life to learn how to live and what will perhaps make you wonder more, it takes the whole life to learn how to die.