Seneca (to Paulinus) · Complete work
IX
IX of 20. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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1. Potestne quicquam stultius esse quam quorundam sensus, hominum eorum dico qui prudentiam iactant? Operosius occupati sunt. Vt melius possint uiuere, impendio uitae uitam instruunt. Cogitationes suas in longum ordinant; maxima porro uitae iactura dilatio est: illa primum quemque extrahit diem, illa eripit praesentia dum ulteriora promittit. Maximum uiuendi impedimentum est exspectatio, quae pendet ex crastino, perdit hodiernum. Quod in manu fortunae positum est disponis, quod in tua, dimittis. Quo spectas? Quo te extendis? Omnia quae uentura sunt in incerto iacent: protinus uiue.
2. Clamat ecce maximus uates et uelut diuino horrore instinctus salutare carmen canit: Optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aeui Prima fugit. "Quid cunctaris?", inquit, "Quid cessas? Nisi occupas, fugit." Et cum occupaueris, tamen fugiet: itaque cum celeritate temporis utendi uelocitate certandum est et uelut ex torrenti rapido nec semper ituro cito hauriendum.
3. Hoc quoque pulcherrime ad exprobrandam infinitam cogitationem quod non optimam quamque aetatem sed diem dicit. Quid securus et in tanta temporum fuga lentus menses tibi et annos in longam seriem, utcumque auiditati tuae uisum est, exporrigis? De die tecum loquitur et de hoc ipso fugiente.
4. Num dubium est ergo quin prima quaeque optima dies fugiat mortalibus miseris, id est occupatis? Quorum puerilis adhuc animos senectus opprimit, ad quam imparati inermesque perueniunt; nihil enim prouisum est: subito in illam necopinantes inciderunt, accedere eam cotidie non sentiebant.
5. Quemadmodum aut sermo aut lectio aut aliqua intentior cogitatio iter facientis decipit et peruenisse ante sciunt quam appropinquasse, sic hoc iter uitae assiduum et citatissimum quod uigilantes dormientesque eodem gradu facimus occupatis non apparet nisi in fine.
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. Can anything be more foolish than the opinion of certain men — those, I say, who boast of prudence? They are busy over their busyness. That they may live better, they spend life in equipping life. They order their thoughts far ahead; and the greatest waste of life is postponement: it takes each day from us first; it snatches the present while promising the later. The greatest hindrance to living is expectation, which hangs on tomorrow and loses today. You dispose of what is in fortune's hands; you let slip what is in your own. Where are you aiming? Where is the thing you are making ready for?
2. Behold, the greatest of poets cries out, and as if inspired with divine terror sings the saving song: "Each best day of life flees first for wretched mortals." "Why do you delay?" he says; "Why do you stand? Unless you seize it, it flees." And when you have seized it, it will still flee: therefore with the swiftness of using time you must contend in like speed, and drink quickly, as from a rushing torrent that will not always flow.
3. He speaks most beautifully too, in reproving endless deliberation, when he says not each best age but each best DAY. Careless, in so great a flight of time, why do you stretch out to yourself in a long series, as your greed has seemed to please, months and years? He speaks with you of the day, and of this very fleeing one.
4. Is there any doubt, then, that each best day flees wretched mortals first — that is, the busy? Whose minds, still childish, old age oppresses, for which they arrive unprepared and unarmed; for nothing has been provided: they have fallen into it suddenly, unexpecting — they did not feel it drawing near day by day.
5. As talk, or reading, or some more intent thought deceives a man making a journey, so that they know they have arrived before they knew they were nearing — so this journey of life, unceasing and most rapid, which we make with the same step waking and sleeping, does not appear to the busy except at its end.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin.
1. Can anything be stupider than the attitude of certain men who boast about being wise? They're busy about being busy. To live better, they spend their lives getting life ready. They plan far ahead — and postponement is the biggest waste of life: it steals each day as it comes, grabs the present and promises the future. Expectation is the biggest obstacle to living: it hangs on tomorrow and loses today. You're managing what belongs to fortune; you're dropping what belongs to you. Where are you heading? What's all this preparation for?
2. Hear the greatest of poets, singing like a man struck by divine terror: "Each best day of life flees first for wretched mortals." Why wait? Why stall? Grab it, or it runs. Even grabbed, it keeps running — so race time with your speed of using it, and drink fast, like someone drinking from a flood that won't flow twice.
3. And most beautifully of all, shaming endless hesitation, he doesn't say the best AGE — he says the best DAY. Careless in this headlong rush, why stretch out months and years ahead? He's talking about the day — this day, the one already escaping.
4. No question, then: the best days flee the busy first. Old age finds their minds still childish, and they arrive unprepared and unarmed. Nothing was set aside; it hit them suddenly, without warning — they never felt it approaching day by day.
5. A traveler fooled by conversation, or a book, or deep thought arrives before he noticed he was getting close. That's how this journey of life works — nonstop, fast, made at the same pace asleep and awake. The busy only notice it at the end.