A passage from Seneca
Seneca, Letters to Lucilius Letter 79
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It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow us to achieve the greatest things.
Related passages
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Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains... But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself.
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At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work — as a human being.'
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Take care not to be Caesarified, or dyed with purple; for it does happen. Keep thyself then simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation.