Day 6 · Q1: Self-Knowledge · January 6, 2026
Pause. Breathe. Begin.
I . L E C T I O
Seneca
Letters to Lucilius, Letter 1
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a great deal of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.”
C O N T E X T
Seneca wrote this as the very first of 124 letters — a correspondence that would become one of the greatest works of practical philosophy. He begins with the most intimate question: How are you spending your time?
I I . M E D I T A T I O
“Where is your time going that you would not consciously choose?”
I I I . S C R I P T I O
Write one sentence about the largest waste of time in your current life.
I V . C O N N E X I O
Seneca's concern with time echoes Socrates' concern with examination. Are wasting time and living unexamined the same failure?
This practice exists because of readers like you.
Sustain it →Tomorrow's passage, delivered at dawn.