1) "It is because you live as if you would live forever; the thought of human frailty never enters your head, you never notice how much of your time is already spent. You squander it as though your store were full to overflowing, when in fact the very day of which you make a present to someone or something may be your last. Like the mortal you are, you are apprehensive of everything; but your desires are unlimited as if you were immortal."
Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
2) "Let virtue go first, let her bear the standard. We shall none the less have pleasure, but we shall be the master and control it; at times we shall yield to its entreaty, never to its constraint. But those who surrender the leadership to pleasure, lack both; for they lose virtue, and yet do not possess pleasure, but are possessed by it, and they are either tortured by the lack of it or strangled by its excess - wretched if it deserts them, more wretched if it overwhelms them"
Seneca, On the Happy Life
Annotated Bibliography
On the Happy Life, Lucius Seneca
Although written about 2000 years ago in ancient Rome, his work is still valid. What troubles him is excess and insatiable desire. His work is truly thought provoking, especially when I come across a mainstream Hollywood movie with happy end.
Significance
For thousands of years philosophers have been trying to explain happiness, however, failing to come to a definite answer (great job security!). Happiness cannot be measured and its meaning tends to change. I recently became interested in the way images persuade definitions of happiness.
Image:
Tracey Moffatt from Scared for Life, exhibited as part of the Family Pictures exhibit in the Guggenheim. The series are the absolute opposite of the family album that contains only the happy moments in life.
