Patience and long-term thinking
It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it.
— Seneca (4 BC–65), On the Shortness of Life, ch. 1 (trans. John W. Basore)

Patience and long-term thinking

What it means

The problem is rarely too little time but how carelessly we spend it. Used deliberately, a life is long enough to accomplish a great deal.

The passage continues: “Life is long enough.”

About the author

Seneca — Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman and dramatist (c. 4 BC–AD 65).

Source and verification

Source
On the Shortness of Life, ch. 1 (trans. John W. Basore)
Reference
Seneca on Wikiquote
Checked
Wording and source checked against the sourced section of the author’s Wikiquote page (accessed 2026-10-11).
Copyright
Public domain: an ancient work.

The explanation above is ToDoMatriX’s own reading of the quote, not the author’s words.

More on patience and long-term thinking

“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.”

Marcus Aurelius

“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”

Charles Darwin

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”

Leo Tolstoy