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Seneca on time, the only thing we own

c. 62–65 CE. His own words, in a letter to Lucilius.

Where and when

c. 62–65 CERome and its world

about 1,963 years ago

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Seneca

His own words, in a letter to Lucilius

In plain words, ours

Time is the only thing that is really ours, and it is so slippery that anyone who wants to can take it from us.

Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time. We were entrusted by nature with the ownership of this single thing, so fleeting and slippery that anyone who will can oust us from possession.

Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius 1.3Translated by Richard M. Gummere (1917)Read the full passage (Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius 1.3, opens en.wikisource.org)

What was going on, our summary

A letter from Seneca to Lucilius, written in his last years, c. 62–65 CE, before Nero ordered him to die. Seneca has been urging Lucilius to hold on to every hour and not put things off.

Checked claim by claim against: Nero orders his old tutor Seneca to die, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

About the event it belongs to: Nero orders his old tutor Seneca to die

Seneca's calm Stoic suicide later became the subject of numerous paintings.

Based on Wikipedia: Seneca the Younger

His stoic and calm suicide has become the subject of numerous paintings.

Wikipedia, Seneca the Younger (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-09-03. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. 44 BCE, written laterabout 106 years earlier Cicero on what we owe our country Also about how to live well
  2. c. 60–61 CEabout 3 years earlier Boudica leads a British revolt against Rome Same years
  3. c. 62–65 CEThis momentSeneca on time, the only thing we own
  4. c. 62–65 CEDuring it Seneca on the harm of crowds More from Seneca
  5. c. 62–65 CEDuring it Seneca on dying daily Same passageMore from Seneca
  6. c. 62–65 CEDuring it Seneca on the midday games More from Seneca
  7. 64 CE1 year later The Great Fire burns much of Rome Same years
  8. by 64 CE1 year later Nero on fire devouring the world, in Suetonius Same years
  9. 65 CEabout 2 years later Nero orders his old tutor Seneca to die The event behind it
  10. 66 CEabout 3 years later Judaea rises against Rome Same years
  11. c. 108 CEabout 45 years later Epictetus on facing death without lament Also about how to live well

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

The most disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness. Furthermore, if you will pay close heed to the problem, you will find that the largest portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the purpose. What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. Whatever years lie behind us are in death’s hands. Therefore, Lucilius, do as you write me that you are doing: hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of to-day’s task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow’s. While we are postponing, life speeds by.

The quote: Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time. We were entrusted by nature with the ownership of this single thing, so fleeting and slippery that anyone who will can oust us from possession.

What fools these mortals be! They allow the cheapest and most useless things, which can easily be replaced, to be charged in the reckoning, after they have acquired them; but they never regard themselves as in debt when they have received some of that precious commodity,—time! And yet time is the one loan which even a grateful recipient cannot repay. You may desire to know how I, who preach to you so freely, am practising. I confess frankly: my expense account balances, as you would expect from one who is free-handed but careful.

Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius 1.1–4Translated by Richard M. Gummere (1917)Read the full passage (opens en.wikisource.org)

When, and whose words

Date
c. 62–65 CE. The Letters to Lucilius were written in the last years of Seneca’s life, c. 62–65 CE; this letter does not date itself.
Whose words
His own words, in a letter to Lucilius.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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