Q0440
“All things are alien to us; time alone is ours.” — Seneca (Letters to Lucilius, Ep. 1.1)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Letters to Lucilius, Ep. 1.1. Theme: time.
English
All things are alien to us; time alone is ours.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Letters to Lucilius, Ep. 1.1 and files it under Stoicism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BCE–65 CE) was a Cordoban-born Stoic, tragic playwright, and adviser—later forced suicide victim—under Nero.
Interpretation
Seneca's claim is that everything we treat as ours — property, body, even relationships — is held on terms we do not control, whereas time is the one thing genuinely at our disposal. The argument opens the Letters and sets up the whole work's concern with how attention is spent. The claim is not that time cannot be lost but that its loss is not something done to us.
Why it matters
It is a piece of accounting: of the things you call yours, which can be taken without your agreement? Seneca's answer is that only one cannot.
Concepts in this quote
- Time
- Philosophy of time asks what tense and duration are—and how memory, death, and history shape a human life.
- Love
- Love in philosophy ranges from friendship and desire to care, justice, and the transformation of the self.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Seneca. (n.d.). All things are alien to us; time alone is ours. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0440
MLA: Seneca. “All things are alien to us; time alone….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0440.
Chicago: Seneca. “All things are alien to us; time alone….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0440.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “All things are alien to us; time alone…”?
The passage is attributed to Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, Ep. 1.1. The archive attributes this English wording to Letters to Lucilius, Ep. 1.1 and files it under Stoicism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Seneca mean by time?
Is time a river, a dimension, or a structure of consciousness? Augustine, Bergson, and modern metaphysics offer rival pictures while ethics asks how finite time should be spent. This passage enters that discussion through time, love.