es que tengamos poco tiempo, sino que perdemos mucho, “
“El mayor impedimento al vivir es la espera, que, por estar pendiente al día de mañana, pierde el día de hoy”.
Este es uno de esos libros con el que uno debe tomar constantemente anotaciones, Consejos por doquier que ayudan a uno a vivir más feliz,
La filosofía del particular arte de vivir en temas como la naturaleza aplicada al ideal humano, la razón y su supremacía.
Este libro se puede convertir en uno de esos de cabecera para consultar de vez en cuando, Sí que se puede ser feliz sin temor,
Sobre estas páginas el filósofo nos anima a administrar bien el tiempo, a aprovecharlo, apartándonos del exceso y de la negligencia, del vicio y del lucro, de la ambición y de la ligereza, de la soberbia, del negocio y de lo superfluo.
Magnifico libro! Po svemu sudeći, Seneka je bio nešto kao lajf kouč antičkog Rima,
Jedan od osnivača stoicizma, njegova filozofija je vrlo zdravorazumska i uglavnom se svodi, barem u esejima prisutnim u ovoj knjižici, na pokušaj razumevanja ljudskog odnosa prema vremenu i sopstvenim životima.
Iako mu je svaka apsolutno na mestu, a glas elokventan i nekako nežan, ne mogu da kažem da sam nešto oduševljen, pošto te ideje uglavnom ne pripadaju baš naročito visoko intelektualnom spektru filozofije.
Kao što rekoh, sasvim zdravorazumski, A i mišljenja sam da filozofija nije za čitanje, već za uživu diskusiju,
Ono što me je vuklo kroz knjigu i što mi je bilo beskrajno interesantnije od same ideologije stoicizma, jeste prikaz jednog antičkog naroda i njegovih mana, načina života itd.
koji je IDENTIČAN našem, A ma apsolutno sve je isto, Što bi rekli, isto sranje, drugo podjednako bušno pakovanje, Koliko je zapravo poražavajuće shvatiti da se za dve hiljade godina nazovi evolucije ništa nije dogodilo, Mislim da smo čak i gori, Trudim se da ne budem cinik, ali svi znamo kako je stari Rim završio,
A relatively rare foray into philosophy for me, Apart from the Title essay this edition also contains the letters “Consolation to Helvia”, and “On Tranquillity of Mind, ”
Reading this stuff makes you realise that a lot of the maxims of today are derived from things the ancients wrote thousands of years ago.
For example, an expression I hear nowadays is “What doesnt kill me makes me stronger, ” In “Consolation to Helvia”, Seneca writes “Everlasting misfortune does have one blessing, that it ends up toughening those it constantly afflicts”
The message of the Title essay is essentially one of “Seize the Day” perhaps in this context I should use “carpe diem”, or as Seneca puts it “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.
” We dont know how many days we have, so we should always live immediately, The number of highlighted passages showing in my Kindle suggests that many people relate to “On the Shortness of Life”, but I wasnt all that impressed with it.
I agree with Senecas argument about making the best use of our days, but he seems to think philosophy is the only worthwhile subject on which to spend a life.
He dismisses everything else as worthless, which seems a little narrow minded, No doubt if he were next to me now he would say I was wasting my days by writing amateur book reviews that hardly anyone will ever read, and Id be inclined to tell him to mind his own business
Helvia was Senecas mother and the “Consolation” was a letter Seneca wrote to her after he was exiled to Corsica.
Helvia was apparently heartbroken at her sons exile and, touchingly, Seneca begins the letter “I thought I would be laying aside all my troubles when I had at least wiped away your tears, even if I could not stop them coming.
”
“The Consolation” allows Seneca to set out some classic Stoic arguments, Added to the pain of exile are poverty and social disgrace, but using eloquent argument, Seneca tells his mother that none of these are as bad as they seem.
A couple of quotes
“there can be no place of exile within this world because nothing within this world is alien to men.
From whatever point on the earths surface you look up to heaven the same distance lies between the realms of gods and men.
”
“But there is no evil in poverty, as anyone knows who has not yet arrived at the lunatic state of greed and luxury, which ruin everythingI know that I have lost not wealth but distractions.
”
“On Tranquillity of Mind” takes the form of advice that Seneca provides to his friend Serenus, who seems to be suffering from some sort of anxiety or depression.
Theres much in the way of good advice, again eloquently set out, and applying the principles of Stoicism, I could include lots of quotes, but this review is long enough without them,
I would give the latter two pieceseach, For me the Title piece brings the overall mark down to a slightly harshstars, Seneca does it again: big life lessons delivered simply, sternly, and sagely, I heartily recommend the translation by Gareth Williams, whose introductory remarks distill Seneca and Stoicism into their absolute essentials and provide valuable historical context.
stars. Quite strong when used as a "daily devotional" but by the nature of its form very brief, Letters like these serve as a good jumpingoff point into deeper reflection, This is an excellent philosophical essay written by Seneca, one of the most significant Roman philosophers and one whom we might call the father of Stoicism.
The problem is simple, we are never content and happy with our lives and at the end we think it was too short.
The solution is even simpler we must start living today, We must find pleasure in today rather then burn the midnights oil for a better tomorrow, Seneca is very pissed off on those who waste their present, for the sake of past or future, Today is what matters, we have no control over what will happen tomorrow nor can we change the past, What we have is today, right now, so we better live it before its too late,
Seneca contends that the pursuit of philosophy is the finest example of a time well spent, He advises us to read philosophy and ponder upon its great principles, and that, he believes will greatly enrich us, He dismisses other pleasure for they dont improve us as person nor they stimulate our intellectual abilities, We must abstain from idleness and treasure the time we have by doing something positively invigorating,
But I guess we must do what makes us happy, we dont have to read Nietzsche or Plato all the time, we can watch great movies, listen to good music, read books that entertain us, acquire knowledge and skills, help the people around us and try to do at least one thing that makes the world a better place to live.
I think Seneca would have agreed that just reading philosophy all the time, sort of , takes the fun out of it,
While reading this, I was constantly reminded of a beautiful poem by W, H. Davies which is quite congruent with the essence of this essay, I am sure Seneca would have greatly appreciated Daviess poem,
Leisure
WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of, like skies at night:
No time to turn
at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
.
Begin Your Journey With On The Shortness Of Life Envisioned By Seneca Issued As Digital Format
Seneca