Time

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.

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work — as a human being.'

Everything you're trying to reach — by taking the long way round — you could have right now, this moment. If you'd only stop thwarting your own attempts.

Of human life the time is a point, the substance flowing, the perception dull... The only thing that escorts a man on his way is philosophy.

Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.

Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.

Though thou shouldst be going to live three thousand years, and as many times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives.

Throw away all things, and retain these few only. Further, remember that every man lives only the present moment; the rest of life has been already lived, or is uncertain.

Near is thy forgetfulness of all things; and near the forgetfulness of thee by all.

Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it: each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see.

Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it.

He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon.

Consider, for example, the times of Vespasian. Thou wilt see all these things: people marrying, bringing up children, sick, dying, warring, feasting, trafficking... And now that life of theirs is no where.

Think continually how many physicians are dead after often contracting their eyebrows over the sick; and how many astrologers after predicting with great pretensions the deaths of others.

Often think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear... For substance is like a river in a continual flow, and the activities of things are in constant change.

Continually think of those who have been very indignant at anything... Where are they all now? Smoke and ash, a tale, or not even a tale.

How small a part of boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to every man! For it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal. And how small a part of the whole substance!

Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name or not even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are much valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling.

The present moment is equal for all; so what is passing away is equal for all; what then is the advantage to be gained by the greatest names, or the most infamous?

We ought to consider not only that our life is daily wasting away, but also that this part of it which is called life is daily diminishing, so that the day when we are not living or not making any progress is also a day of life.

Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time... Hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of today's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow's.

Let us order our minds as if we had come to the very end. Let us postpone nothing.

If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.

As it is with a play, so it is with life — what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is. It is not important at what point you stop. Stop wherever you will — only make sure that you round it off with a good ending.

As long as you live, keep learning how to live.

Trust me, it is better to understand the balance-sheet of one's own life than of the corn-trade.

No one lives poorly who dies well, and no one lives well who dies poorly.

Great grief cannot be quenched; but neither can it endure forever.

So long as you live, keep learning how to live.

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

Great things cannot be born of hasty efforts.

Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.

We are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it.

The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which depends upon tomorrow and wastes today.

Nothing is more dishonorable than an old man, heavy with years, who has no other evidence to give of his having lived long except his age.

No one lives poorly who dies well, and no one lives well who dies poorly.

We learn not for school, but for life.

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.

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.

It is quality rather than quantity that matters. It is better to read a little and thoroughly, than to read much and superficially.

We are not given a short life but we make it short. Life is long if you know how to use it.

It is not that you have so little time, but that you lose so much. The life we receive is not short, but we make it so.

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.

You live as if you were destined to live forever; no thought of your frailty ever enters your head.

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.

It takes the whole of life to learn how to live, and — what will perhaps make you wonder more — it takes the whole of life to learn how to die.

We are mistaken in thinking that death follows life; it precedes as well as follows it. All that was before us is death.

The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.

The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which depends upon tomorrow and wastes today.

Life, if you know how to use it, is long.

It is inevitable that life will be, not just very short, but very miserable, for those who acquire by great toil what they must keep by greater toil.

Of all people, only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy — only those are really alive. For not only do they keep a good watch over their own lifetimes, but they annex every age to theirs.

It is quality of life, not quantity, that matters.

You are like a man who should spend the whole day in amusement and then be surprised that he has not accomplished anything.

No one will bring back the years; no one will restore you to yourself. Life will follow the path it began to take, and will neither reverse nor check its course.

It is not that we have so short a time, but that we lose so much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow us to achieve the greatest things.

The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which depends upon tomorrow and wastes today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control, and abandoning what lies in yours.

Of all people, only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy; only those are really alive. For they not only keep a good watch over their own lifetimes, but they annex every age to theirs.

Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.

When you see a person always in his robes, either in the house or in the forum, beset by many clients, you may be sure that he is not busy with the affairs of others but his own.

The life of the fool is empty of gratitude and full of anxiety; it is thrown away in the expectation of what is to come and the regret of what is past.

The mind should be neither too much occupied nor too much at leisure. Occupation without leisure is slavery; leisure without occupation is ruin.

I am grieved, Marcia, to see you in unceasing sorrow. But if you would consider who you are, and what you have lost, you would not grieve so long.

We are mistaken in thinking that death follows life; it both precedes and will follow it. All that was before us is death; all that will be after us is death.

The remembrance of a noble life is a consolation that does not pass away. It is a possession that no fortune can take from us.

How long will you delay to think yourself worthy of the highest things and in nothing transgress the distinctive reason? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man.

No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

Nothing is more shameful than that an old man should have nothing to show as the fruit of his life.

There is no great thing which is created suddenly. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

It is not possible to live well today unless one thinks of it as one's last.

When a man fixes his hope upon what is to come, considering that what is present is sufficient and welcome, he gains the most.

One day among the learned is worth more than the longest life of the ignorant.

The good is not increased by duration. A short life of virtue is as good as a long life of virtue, for the value of virtue lies in its quality, not in its length.

We should not give way to grief, because it does not help the dead, but harms the living. The dead are beyond our tears; we only injure ourselves.

Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name or not even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are much valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling.

Constantly consider how all things such as they now are, in time past also were; and consider that they will be the same again. And place before thy eyes entire dramas and stages of the same form... All these things were such as they are now: only the actors were different.

As the leaves that the wind scatters to the ground, so are the generations of men.

Advice in old age is foolish; for what can be more absurd than to increase our provisions for the road the nearer we approach to our journey's end?

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it.

No one restores the years; no one will bring you back to yourself.

Life is long enough for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.

Everyone hurries his life on and suffers from a yearning for the future and a weariness of the present.

You will find no one willing to share out his money; but among how many does each of us divide his life!

The greatest hindrance to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today.

Of all men they alone are at leisure who take time for philosophy.

We should have a common possession in every age.

We are in the habit of saying that it was not in our power to choose the parents who fell to our lot; but we can choose whose children we would like to be.

Neither can the same happiness be lasting nor the same misery.

Time removes distress, while friendship stays.