The Metaphysical Psychosis of Wasting Time (Seneca Letter #1: On Using and Wasting Time, Part 2)

In today’s episode we examine Seneca’s statements about wasting time in light of Saadia Gaon’s remarks about God’s relationship to time, noting the underlying metaphysical absurdity of going about life as though you have infinite time to spend and waste. This might not be “pshat” in Seneca or in Saadia Gaon, but I hope you’ll find the thought to be as interesting as I did!
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Seneca – Letter #1: On Using and Wasting Time (excerpt)
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.
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Sources:
- Seneca: Letter #1 (click here to access the full text
- Saadia Gaon: Emunos v’Deos Intro, 3
- Saadia Gaon: Emunos v’Deos 2:13
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
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Stoic texts:
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Letters from a Stoic Master (Seneca)
The Discourses of Epictetus
The Enchiridion (Handbook) of Epictetus
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