Finish each day like a life and you'll never run short of time.
Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 101.8
Qui cotidie vitae suae summam manum inposuit non indiget tempore
Finish each day like a life and you'll never run short of time.
Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 101.8
What it means
Life feels short when it is always unfinished. Someone who lives each day completely does not need more days to feel complete. End today with nothing important left undone.
The source
"Finish each day like a life and you'll never run short of time." Seneca said it in Letters to Lucilius 101.8. Translated from the original Latin by Spartan Surfers.
"Qui cotidie vitae suae summam manum inposuit non indiget tempore"Original Latin, Letters to Lucilius 101.8. Text read at thelatinlibrary.com.
Who said it
Seneca (c. 4 BC–65 AD). Stoic philosopher, playwright and adviser to the emperor Nero. His letters to his friend Lucilius are the most readable handbook of Stoicism ever written.
Questions
- What does "Finish each day like a life and you'll never run short of time." mean?
- Life feels short when it is always unfinished. Someone who lives each day completely does not need more days to feel complete. End today with nothing important left undone.
- Who said "Finish each day like a life and you'll never run short of time."?
- Seneca (c. 4 BC–65 AD). Source: Letters to Lucilius 101.8.
- What is the original Latin?
- Qui cotidie vitae suae summam manum inposuit non indiget tempore. Translated from the original Latin by Spartan Surfers.
- Is "Finish each day like a life and you'll never run short of time." on a shirt?
- Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 6 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.
Cite this line
"Finish each day like a life and you'll never run short of time." (Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 101.8, translated by Spartan Surfers). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/finish-each-day-like-a-life-and-youll
Filed under Quotes about time and Stoic quotes.
Wear it your way
The same line in every look it fits. Each one is printed to order on heavy cotton, same price.
More from Seneca
- Claim yourself back.Letters to Lucilius 1.1
- Most of life slips away doing nothing, or the wrong thing.Letters to Lucilius 1.1
- While you put life off, it runs past.Letters to Lucilius 1.3
- Nothing is truly yours except your time.Letters to Lucilius 1.3
- Be everywhere and you are nowhere.Letters to Lucilius 2.2
- Poor is not having little. Poor is wanting more.Letters to Lucilius 2.6