You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire – Seneca
Another insightful quote from Seneca, you can check other quotes by Seneca > here.
There is so much truth about the nature of the human being expressed in this quote, which is part of a text on the shortness of life by the Roman philosopher.
You are living as if destined to live for ever; your own frailty never occurs to you; you don’t notice how much time has already passed, but squander it as though you had a full and overflowing supply – though all the while that very day which you are devoting to somebody or something may be your last. You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire. You will hear many people saying: ‘When I am fifty I shall retire into leisure; when I am sixty I shall give up public duties.’ And what guarantee do you have of a longer life? Who will allow your course to proceed as you arrange it? Aren’t you ashamed to keep for yourself just the remnants of your life, and to devote to wisdom only that time which cannot be spent on any business? How late it is to begin really to live just when life must end! How stupid to forget our mortality, and put off sensible plans to our fiftieth and sixtieth years, aiming to begin life from a point at which few have arrived!
Source: On the shortness of life
There is a very nice book, the 4 hour work week that addresses this point wonderfully, i will link to a review post soon.
What Seneca was trying to say is pursue your desires, don’t occupy yourself only with the everyday mundane stuff. Follow your dreams while you can, you will not live forever. You spend life on none important stuff while you ignore the really important ones. Sure you might need to work and pay the bills, but do not postpone your dreams, and only focus on the now.
You always desired to launch your own restaurant, launch it .
You wanted to launch a startup, an internet shop, a website … do it. (You can even outsource the startup or the development)
You wanted to learn the guitar, or learn to dance, … what are you waiting for ?
