Smartyfair
Indeed, if the number of every man’s future years could be laid before him, as we can lay that of his past years, how anxious those who found that they had but few years remaining would be to make the most of them? Yet it is easy to arrange the distribution of a quantity, however small, if we know how much there is: what you ought to husband most carefully is that which may run short you know not when.

Where these words come from

How sure this is
95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up
Of the Shortness of Life, in Minor Dialogues (Aubrey Stewart translation, 1889); Exact wording and attribution checked. Stoic reflections on mortality, postponement, and the lived use of time.
Work
Of the Shortness of Life, in Minor Dialogues (Aubrey Stewart translation, 1889)
Sources checked
  • gutenberg.orgChecked using manual, 21 October 2026Of the Shortness of Life, in Minor Dialogues (Aubrey Stewart translation, 1889); Exact wording and attribution checked. Stoic reflections on mortality, postponement, and the lived use of time.

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