On The Shortness of Life Review

On The Shortness of Life by Seneca

I tend to reach for philosophy when I’ve got a weird, niche itch to scratch. This time, that itch was triggered by a TV show. Out of nowhere, the characters began a witty exchange of philosopher quotes, and a character threw out a few lines of Seneca. Something about it hit just right. That one line was enough to push me toward On the Shortness of Life, and I figured, why not? It’s short, it’s classic, and it might give me something to chew on.

What I didn’t expect was just how sharp it would be. Seneca doesn’t warm you up or ease you in—he just tells you, plainly, that you’re probably wasting your life. And somehow, it doesn’t come off as insulting. It comes off as necessary. It’s dense with clarity. Every page carries weight. It’s less a casual read and more of a mirror, forcing you to confront how much of your time is actually yours. And how much of it has been wasted.

One of the earliest gut-punches comes as:

"Add to this the diseases which we bring upon us with our own hands, and the time which has laid idle without any use having been made of it; you will see that you have not lived as many years as you count.”

Seneca doesn’t care how long you’ve been alive—he wants to know how much of that time you’ve used. He draws a stark line between living and merely existing. For a book written two thousand years ago, it lands uncomfortably well in an era of screen time and endless scrolling.

Throughout the book, he returns to one central theme: time is our most precious asset, and we treat it like it’s disposable.

“We play with what is the most precious of all things: yet it escapes men’s notice… it is held very cheap.”

You can feel the weight of that in everyday life—how often we say yes to obligations, to distractions, to things that don't serve us, just because we’re not taught to protect our time the way we protect our money.

“Postponement is the greatest waste of life.”

Seneca calls out what we like to dress up as patience or planning. Waiting to live, waiting for the “right time,” waiting for someday. But someday is never guaranteed. That reminder—live now, straightaway—is not some motivational slogan. It’s a warning.

What stood out most to me, though, was how much of his critique centers on people who give their lives to busyness. Not purpose, not fulfillment—just busy work.

“Those who forget the past, neglect the present, and dread the future... learn too late that they were busied all the while that they were doing nothing.”

And he hits even harder with this:

“Let them think how small a fraction of [life] is their own.”

That one hit especially deep. How many of us live on someone else’s schedule, chasing someone else’s definition of success, measuring our days by tasks instead of meaning?

This book doesn’t offer a to-do list. It doesn’t end with a call to action. It just strips away the excuses. It reminds you that your life isn’t short because of fate—it’s short because of distraction, indecision, and delay. And if you’re not careful, you’ll miss it while you’re busy managing emails, performing ambition, or chasing rest you never actually get.

On the Shortness of Life is the kind of book you can read in a single sitting, but you'll be chewing on it for weeks. It’s not always gentle, but it’s honest—and sometimes, that's exactly what you need.