men covetously guard their property from waste, but when it comes to waste of time, they are most prodigal of that of which it would become them to be sparing.
Genuine
Yes. In On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 3, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 3.1).
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 3, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 3.1)
- Found at
- Paragraph 6 of the Latin text, 10 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
[…] You ought not, then, to claim these services from another, especially since while you yourself were doing so, you did not wish for an interview with another man, but were not able to obtain one with yourself.
[…] Non est itaque quod ista officia cuiquam imputes, quoniam quidem, cum illa faceres, non esse cum alio uolebas, sed tecum esse non poteras.
[…] You cannot find anyone who wants to distribute his money; yet among how many people does everyone distribute his life? men covetously guard their property from waste, but when it comes to waste of time, they are most prodigal of that of which it would become them to be sparing. Let us take one of the elders, and say to him, “We perceive that you have arrived at the extreme limits of human life: you are in your hundredth year, or even older. […]
[…] Adstricti sunt in continendo patrimonio, simul ad iacturam temporis uentum est, profusissimi in eo cuius unius honesta auaritia est. 2 Libet itaque ex seniorum turba comprendere aliquem: “Peruenisse te ad ultimum aetatis humanae uidemus, centesimus tibi uel supra premitur annus: agedum, ad computationem aetatem tuam reuoca. […]
The scene
Seneca tells Paulinus that people defend their land so fiercely that they resort to violence over boundaries, yet invite others to occupy their lives. They will not distribute their money, but give their time to many claimants. He then asks an imagined hundred-year-old to count the years lost to obligations, quarrels and empty concerns.
What it means
People are careful with replaceable possessions but careless with their finite time. Seneca asks them to guard their lives at least as deliberately as they guard their property.
Topics
Related quotes
- there is no such obstacle to true living as waiting, which loses today while it is depending on the morrow.
- Riches are slaves in the house of a wise man, but masters in that of a fool.
- The fact is that fewer people are endowed with virtue than wish to be thought to be so. Marcus Tullius Cicero
- Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Steve Jobs
- or, if we trust Aristotle, no great genius has ever been without a touch of insanity.
Sources
Cite it
Seneca the Younger, On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 3, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 3.1), translated by Aubrey Stewart (1889). Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/guarding-property-wasting-time/ (31 October 2026).
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