Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“The part of life we really live is small.”
- Source
- On the Shortness of Life
- Date
- c. 49
- Local voice
- Quoted earlier source · Earlier poet quoted by Seneca — identity uncertain
- English wording
- John W. Basore — Translator · from Latin
Meaning of “The part of life we really live is…”
Seneca distinguishes existing from deliberately living, warning that a large calendar can still contain very little time that feels genuinely one’s own.
Where does it come from?
On the Shortness of Life, Chapter II; Seneca cites the line while arguing that much existence is merely time.
Why the local voice matters
On the Shortness of Life, Chapter II.
