Some die too young, some die too old; the precept sounds strange, but die at the right age.
For a courageous man cannot die dishonorably, a man who has attained the consulship cannot die before his time, a philosopher cannot die wretchedly.
For death betimes is comfort, not dismay, and who can rightly die needs no delay.
May you live as long as you are fit to live, but no longer, or, may you rather die before you cease to be fit to live than after!
To die quickly in one's eighth decade at the very top of one's powers is an enviable end, and not an occasion for mourning.
I don't know any more about the future than you do. I hope that it will be full of work, because I have come to know by experience that work is the nearest thing to happiness that I can find. . . I want a busy life, a just mind and a timely death.
If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy.
As soldiers need not only courage but tactics also, so does a philosopher need not only courage and philosophy but discernment also, to tell what his right time of dying is - so that he neither seek it nor flee it.
