Seneca (to Paulinus) · Complete work
I
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1. Maior pars mortalium, Pauline, de naturae malignitate conqueritur, quod in exiguum aeui gignimur, quod haec tam uelociter, tam rapide dati nobis temporis spatia decurrant, adeo ut exceptis admodum paucis ceteros in ipso uitae apparatu uita destituat. Nec huic publico, ut opinantur, malo turba tantum et imprudens uulgus ingemuit; clarorum quoque uirorum hic affectus querellas euocauit.
2. Inde illa maximi medicorum exclamatio est: "uitam breuem esse, longam artem". Inde Aristotelis cum rerum natura exigentis minime conueniens sapienti uiro lis: "aetatis illam animalibus tantum indulsisse, ut quina aut dena saecula educerent, homini in tam multa ac magna genito tanto citeriorem terminum stare."
3. Non exiguum temporis habemus, sed multum perdidimus. Satis longa uita et in maximarum rerum consummationem large data est, si tota bene collocaretur; sed ubi per luxum ac neglegentiam diffluit, ubi nulli bonae rei impenditur, ultima demum necessitate cogente, quam ire non intelleximus transisse sentimus.
4. Ita est: non accipimus breuem uitam sed fecimus, nec inopes eius sed prodigi sumus. Sicut amplae et regiae opes, ubi ad malum dominum peruenerunt, momento dissipantur, at quamuis modicae, si bono custodi traditae sunt, usu crescunt: ita aetas nostra bene disponenti multum patet.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin for fidelity, Senecan compression, modern clarity, and cadence.
1. The greater part of mortals complains of the malice of nature, Paulinus: that we are born for so small a span, that the space of time given us runs past so quickly, so swiftly, that — with the very few excepted — life abandons the rest in the midst of life's own preparations. Nor has the crowd alone, thoughtless as they think, grieved over this common ill; the same feeling has called out laments from famous men too.
2. What moved them to cry that life is short is this: they never have leisure enough to look back on their own years; and no one of them ever learned to hold off death. But that they could not do what they wished even once in a life so busy, some of the greatest of them confessed — men whose fame and glories history keeps; you will recognize them as I name them. That life is not short, but that we make it so, we hear from the greatest of the ancients — the wisest too, and each in his own words.
3. Why do we complain of nature? She has dealt kindly: life, if you know how to use it, is long. But one man is gripped by greedy cares, another by the dull labor of doing nothing; one is soaked in wine, another dulled by sloth; one is worn out by the sweat of ambition always hanging on another's judgment; one is driven by the greed of trading over lands and seas on every hope of gain; one is tormented by the passion of war — hurrying to wound others only to be wounded; some wear themselves out in unpaid devotion to the great. To these add those who are held by no one slavery, but a self-invited one — restless masters of their own fortunes; add those who have no settled grief, yet — and this I know is no one — nothing gnaws them falsely or with unquiet mind: life knows no bounds for any but these.
4. What they ask, then, is a thing even mortal nature cannot grant: they beg for a long life who do not know how to live any part of it. Add those who cling to time only to insult it, who long for posterity and make ready out of their own life the things they will leave behind. And these are the same who will cry that life is short — who live as if thrown headlong into the one thing they would refuse at any price. Among these also count those who have no settled craving, and time wastes away on them no less than it flows: the hours leave them, they do not hold them. Their life is without bound, and they will not set bounds to their life.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin.
1. Most people, Paulinus, complain about how unfair nature is: that we get such a short life, that the time given us runs out so fast that — except for a handful — life ends while everyone is still getting ready for it. And it isn't just the crowds who feel this. Famous men have complained about it too.
2. Here is what made them cry that life is too short: they never had a spare moment to look back on their own years, and none of them learned how to keep death at a distance. But some of the greatest men in history admitted that they never got to do what they wanted, not even once, because their lives were so busy. You'll recognize them as I name them. The wisest people of the past already told us: life isn't short — we make it short.
3. So why blame nature? She has been generous. Life is long, if you know how to use it. But one man is crushed by greedy worries, another by pointless laziness; one drinks himself dull, another drifts; one burns out chasing other people's approval; one chases profit across every land and sea; one throws himself into war and violence; some wear themselves out serving the powerful for free. And then there are those with no master at all — but a restlessness they chose themselves. Life has no limit only for these people.
4. What they're asking for is something even nature can't give: they beg for long lives but don't know how to live even part of one. Count in those who waste time just to throw it away, who spend their years preparing things to leave behind after death. These are the very ones who cry that life is short — rushing headlong into the one thing they'd refuse at any price.