long life, n.All

Long life (n.) needs ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only Fate; right living needs the soul.

A Long life (n.) includes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠all these troubles, just as a long journey includes dust and mud and rain.

A Long life (n.) buys ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠nothing: those who clung to life longest — who buried many — were buried at last too.

A Long life (n.) asked ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠for as more sensation, more appetite, more growing and shrinking, or more talk, offers none of these as a worthy object of desire.

A Long life (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a gamble: few reach death intact when old age drags on, and there is no crueller loss than losing the power to end one's life.

A Long life (n.) would ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠merely prolong a game of unceasing war with troubles; a species living eight hundred years would let its vices grow until it deserved to be wiped off the earth.

A Long life (n.) of ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the wrong kind is like the Annals of Tanusius — bulky, and you know what men say of it; some books of very few lines are admirable.

A Long life (n.) depends ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠neither on years nor days but on the mind: I have lived long enough; I have had my fill; I await death.