one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to live, and, which may perhaps surprise you more, one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to die.
Genuine
Yes. In On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 7, section 3 (De Brevitate Vitae 7.3).
Found word for word by program in the Latin original and in Aubrey Stewart’s English translation (1889).
- Work
- On the Shortness of Life (De Brevitate Vitae), 49
- Where
- Chapter 7, section 3 (De Brevitate Vitae 7.3)
- Found at
- Paragraph 14 of the Latin text, 18 of the English
- Translation
- Aubrey Stewart, 1889
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
[…] By Hercules, that life of you great men, even though it should last for more than a thousand years, is still a very short one: those vices of yours would swallow up any extent of time: no wonder if this our ordinary span, which, though Nature hurries on, can be enlarged by common sense, soon slips away from you: for you do not lay hold of it or hold it back, and try to delay the swiftest of all things, but you let it pass as though it were a useless thing and you could supply its place.
[…] 4 Vestra me hercules uita, licet supra mille annos exeat, in artissimum contrahetur: ista uitia nullum non saeculum deuorabunt; hoc uero spatium, quod quamuis natura currit ratio dilatat, cito uos effugiat necesse est; non enim apprenditis nec retinetis uel ocissimae omnium rei moram facitis, sed abire ut rem superuacuam ac reparabilem sinitis.
[…] No man knows less about living than a business man: there is nothing about which it is more difficult to gain knowledge. Other arts have many folk everywhere who profess to teach them: some of them can be so thoroughly learned by mere boys, that they are able to teach them to others: but one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to live, and, which may perhaps surprise you more, one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to die. […]
[…] Nihil minus est hominis occupati quam uiuere: nullius rei difficilior scientia est. Professores aliarum artium uulgo multique sunt, quasdam uero ex his pueri admodum ita percepisse uisi sunt, ut etiam praecipere possent: uiuere tota uita discendum est et, quod magis fortasse miraberis, tota uita discendum est mori. 4 Tot maximi uiri, relictis omnibus impedimentis, cum diuitiis, officiis, uoluptatibus renuntiassent, hoc unum in extremam usque aetatem egerunt ut uiuere scirent; plures tamen ex his nondum se scire confessi uita abierunt, nedum ut isti sciant. […]
The scene
Addressing Paulinus, Seneca argues that a mind scattered among obligations cannot learn the art of living. After contrasting living with skills that children can master and teach, he says that both living and dying demand a lifetime of learning. He then describes men who relinquished wealth, business and pleasure to study life, yet died admitting that they had not mastered it.
What it means
Knowing how to live well, and how to face death, is not a skill one finishes acquiring early in life. It requires sustained practice rather than merely getting through one’s occupations.
Often misread
Often shortened into an encouragement to lifelong learning in general. Seneca’s subject here is specifically learning to live and die well, in contrast to both technical expertise and a life consumed by business.
Topics
Related quotes
- Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love. J. K. Rowling
- It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly. Epicurus
- Never say about anything, I have lost it, but say I have restored it. Epictetus
- Let death and exile and every other thing which appears dreadful be daily before your eyes; but most of all death: and you will never think of anything mean nor will you desire anything extravagantly. Epictetus
- Remember that it is not he who reviles you or strikes you, who insults you, but it is your opinion about these things as being insulting. When then a man irritates you, you must know that it is your own opinion which has irritated you. Epictetus
Sources
Cite it
Seneca the Younger, On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 7, section 3 (De Brevitate Vitae 7.3), translated by Aubrey Stewart (1889). Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/a-lifetime-learning-how-to-live/ (31 October 2026).
Have a different wording, or a source we missed? Check it or submit it.
Do you hold the rights to anything on this page? Tell us.
Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
Comments