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Who really said it

Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life

Written by Seneca c. 4 BC – AD 65 · Roman Stoic philosopher, dramatist, statesman
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From Seneca’s Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 101 (“On the Futility of Planning Ahead”), §10, written c. AD 65. The familiar English is Richard M. Gummere’s Loeb translation of the Latin ‘Ideo propera, Lucili mi, vivere, et singulos dies singulas vitas puta.’

Last verified 7 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life” Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life. — Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius 101.10 (trans. Richard M. Gummere) · Verbatim: “Therefore, my dear Lucilius, begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.”

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Provenance

The source

Work
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius)
Letter
101 — “On the Futility of Planning Ahead”, §10
Written
c. AD 65, Rome
Translation
Richard M. Gummere, Loeb Classical Library (1917–25)

… when a soundly-balanced mind knows that a day differs not a whit from eternity — then the soul looks forth from lofty heights and laughs heartily to itself… Therefore, my dear Lucilius, begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.

The maxim caps Seneca’s argument that anxious planning steals the present: only someone unhappy with today frets about tomorrow.

Seneca, Letter 101 at Wikisource

How we know

  • The English wording is Richard M. Gummere’s Loeb translation, printed in Seneca’s Letter 101, §10 ↗.
  • The underlying Latin, ‘Ideo propera, Lucili mi, vivere, et singulos dies singulas vitas puta,’ appears in the standard Latin edition ↗.
  • Wikiquote ↗ files the line under Letter CI, ‘On the Futility of Planning Ahead.’
Public domain

The Latin is ancient and Gummere’s English translation (Loeb, 1917–25) is out of U.S. copyright — both are public domain.

This reflects the original work, which is public domain. If your exact English wording comes from a specific modern translation, that translation may itself still be under copyright — check the edition you quote.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Context

Living each day as a whole life

Letter 101 is Seneca’s meditation on the futility of planning too far ahead. He argues that only a person dissatisfied with the present frets over the future — and that a well-ordered mind treats a single day as no different from eternity.

The closing maxim distills that Stoic outlook: do not postpone living, and let each day stand complete, so that whenever death comes it finds a life already finished rather than merely interrupted.

“A day differs not a whit from eternity.”

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Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Letter 101 (full English text)en.wikisource.org

Gummere’s complete translation, with the quote in §10
Latin original, Epistle 101latin.it

The Latin text: ‘…singulos dies singulas vitas puta’
Seneca the Youngeren.wikiquote.org

Sourced quotations, citing Letter CI for this line
Epistle 101 at Perseusperseus.tufts.edu

Scholarly Latin text of §10
How to count each day as a separate lifewhatisstoicism.com

Commentary placing the maxim in Letter 101

The true author

Seneca the Younger

Seneca the Younger

c. 4 BC – AD 65 · Roman Stoic philosopher, tutor to Nero

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (“Seneca the Younger”) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, dramatist, and statesman who served as tutor and later adviser to the emperor Nero. His Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium — 124 letters on Stoic ethics and everyday living — rank among the most widely read works of ancient philosophy. Ordered by Nero to take his own life in AD 65, he died much as he had counselled others to live.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Seneca. Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, Letter 101.10. Translated by Richard M. Gummere. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925.

MLA (9th ed.)

Seneca. Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, letter 101. Translated by Richard M. Gummere, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1925.

APA (7th ed.)

Seneca. (1925). Ad Lucilium epistulae morales (R. M. Gummere, Trans.). Harvard University Press. (Original work published ca. 65 CE)

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life’?” Last verified 7 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/begin-at-once-to-live-and-count-each-separate-day-as-a/

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