âAs it is with a play, so it is with life â what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is.â Seneca the Younger, in Letters from a Stoic
Itâs torture to sit through a movie or play thatâs both bad and long. By contrast, itâs thrilling to watch a short, brilliant, performance.
In the same way, a life of greatness has nothing to do with how long it is.
Think, for example, of Irving Berlin, Simon Bolivar and Ann Frank. They lived, respectively, 101, 47 and 15 years.
Composer and lyricist, Irving Berlin wrote some 1,500 songs, including âWhite Christmasâ and âGod Bless America.â
Bolivar liberated -or had a central role in liberating- not one, not two, but six countries from Spain: Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Bolivia.
Through the act of writing, Anne Frank conveyed -in a way everyone can understand- both the sublime goodness and the depths of evil humans are capable of.
Clearly, these individualsâ greatness is not proportional to their longevity.
No good life need be long either. And yet we devote much more physical and mental energy to lengthening it rather than elevating it.
Even when we care for loved ones, weâre compelled to prioritize length of life over how good the life is.
Hence weâll make decisions for parents with dementia, for example, that prolong life, yet detract from quality and enjoyment of life (which, to my mind, are part of a good life).
A good life, to me, is a life lived based on coherent ideals that guide your actions. Whatever these values may be, we need to focus on them every day, every hour. The more we do so, the more our life will be a good life.
However old or young you are and feel, you may live two more months, five more years, or even 93 more years. You may live to, say, 37, 49, 81 or even 118. No one knows!
Letâs obsess less on longevity and put our energies into living a good life today. Thatâs what matters.
This is my 4th piece for a 30-day writing challenge on a single topic: Quotes from Seneca the Youngerâs Letters from a Stoic.
Why this topic? Because I canât get over how timely and brilliant Senecaâs words are -2,000 years after he wrote them.