# Do you really believe that "Life is too short"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824 "2005-08-13T03:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/21 "2005-08-13T18:15:16Z")
Sometimes I feel cursed by constantly obsessing over my own impending death. Life is not only too short, it’s also too confined and restrictive. Even though I am only 17, I know that in my life I’ll never get to actually become half of what I want to before I become immobile. I also will not be able to see a flea’s heart of what I really want to see in the world. I blame it on these cursed fleshy things. My mind is much better served through a coffee grinder then these delicate and dainty meat hooks. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/22 "2005-08-13T18:16:13Z")
In the grand scheme of things, man’s life span is exactly what it should be. But for me personally, I wouldn’t mind another 100 years or so. It would be such a ride to see your descendants beyond a few generations, and to see the technological changes that are just beyond your lifetime. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![MadderMitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@MadderMitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadderMitch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/23 "2005-08-13T18:53:07Z")
I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work, I want to achieve it through not _dying_! – Woody Allen ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/24 "2005-08-13T19:02:26Z")
I cannot believe this question is being asked, and that some people are actually saying its too long! 200 years might be enough. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/25 "2005-08-13T19:10:25Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I cannot believe this question is being asked, and that some people are actually saying its too long! It’s really too bad we can’t sell off our lifespan to willing customers. I’d sell you–or any of you life-lovers–my last twenty years for $50,000. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/26 "2005-08-13T19:14:39Z")
I think my life has gone by way too fast. I wish it could just slow down a bit so I could enjoy it more. Yes, it’s really too short to me. I’d be happy to live to be 400, but only if I could be as healthy as I am at 35 for at least the next three hundred years! ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/27 "2005-08-13T19:29:26Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > :eek: :eek: :eek: You’re okay, right? Everything in mostly working order? Not so okay. [Polyarteritis nodosa](http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec05/ch069/ch069b.html) has played hob with my vital organs. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/28 "2005-08-13T19:30:39Z")
Much too short. I’m 35. I feel like just as I’ve started figuring things out, I’ve already got to start planning for the end - retirement, old age, etc. Sure, my first 35 years seems like a long time, but most of that was pre-20. The time between 20 and 35 seemed to happen in about a month. At this rate, I’ll be 95 tomorrow ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/29 "2005-08-13T20:19:15Z")
Another vote for “much too short.” I’m only 47, but there are things I’d like to do and won’t be able to with another paltry half-a-century of life. Note: My opinion is likely influenced by a doctor giving me a 50-50 chance of surviving my cancer treatments two years ago. I decided I really _like_ living, and successfully beat off the cancer. Now I’m ready to keep it up for as long as I can. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/30 "2005-08-13T20:24:17Z")
Too damn short and some parts are unnecessarily cruel. I think the end is too damn long for most. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/31 "2005-08-13T20:37:41Z")
I’m 22. I don’t want to die anytime soon. I’d gladly take a few centuries or so…so I fall on the side of, “too damn short.” ---
**Author:** ![Schuyler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Schuyler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schuyler)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/32 "2005-08-13T21:04:18Z")
If there were no growth, ageing, and eventual dying, there wouldn’t be room for new life - the world would get filled-up, and then how do you fit anybody else? My very selfish perspective is that if my compensation for mortality is to have children, and to see and enjoy my daughters as they grow to adulthood, then I call it a fair trade. So, I guess I’m pretty OK with the natural span of life to which most humans are allotted, although I do recognize the tragedy of early death. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/33 "2005-08-13T21:24:01Z")
> [@](#): > > **msmith** : I don’t know if it’s too short, but it sucks that we tend to peak relatively early. Yes, your physical prowess slows and maybe some of your quickness of mind and ability to concentrate, but there are compensations that make aging worthwhile as long as you remain in good health. At sixty-two, my greatest health problem is with my memory – and in my case, that is not related to my age. Physically, I feel great! My relationships are more centered and stable; I am comfortable with the choices that I have made; I anticipate the continuing unfolding of as yet undiscovered simple pleasures. From birth to age 25 is a long time. From age 25 to 40 goes moderately quickly. I was forty-one the day before yesterday. **ZebraShaSha** , I truly think the fear of both old age and death is _much_ greater when you are younger. My friends seem to agree. If nothing else, console yourself with the knowledge that your life expectancy should be probably ancient compared to today’s standard and people in their seventies may look like today’s forty year olds. Did you ever notice how old the mothers look on _The Little Rascals_? Life is too short to do all the things I want to do, but too long not to have old friends and kinsmen at my side. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/34 "2005-08-13T22:20:15Z")
> [@OldBroad](#): > > Hell, yes, it’s too short! > > I’m 62 and there simply is not enough time left to do everything I’d like to do. My father died at 79 but my mother is now 92 so, barring accidents, I expect to have a decade or two at least. Problem is that time does take its toll and my concern is that I’ll lose my physical strength before I’m ready. > > When that does happen, I’ll at least have memories of the things I did to mitigate the regrets for the things I didn’t do. Good response, **OldBroad** , I’m with you (although a bit older, turned 78 last Wed.) Retirement is a blast, every day is a holiday! Having more fun than ever, don’t ever think about the end, just want to keep trucking. Am very active mentally and physically, which makes me feel like 35. Except, of course, when I look in a mirror and wonder who that old geezer is looking back. 😃 Your last sentence shows you have a terrific attitude. Long life, babe! ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/35 "2005-08-13T22:41:52Z")
Maybe not too short, just too few. I don’t believe in reincarnation, but it’d be nice to come back and try on someone else. ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/36 "2005-08-13T22:48:59Z")
I don’t know. I’m 15 and when I look back at my childhood, I can’t believe that 15 years has gone by so fast. Yet at the same time, I feel like it’s taking me a painfully long time to grow up fully and mature and become an adult. Maybe that’s why my friends think I act too adult sometimes… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/37 "2005-08-14T00:40:38Z")
Every day you wake up could be for the last time. Life is WAAAAAAY too short. You don’t realize this till you look forward at things you can no longer do, and back at time wasted. Like endless surfing the message boards… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/38 "2005-08-14T00:49:25Z")
I squandered my twenties and most of my thirties. I feel like I am hitting my stride now. I don’t think life is too short. I think it is the right length for me, unless, of course, I’m struck dead tomorrow by an asteroid. But, hey, if that happens, I won’t have to sort laundry! C’monnnnnnnn asteroid! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/39 "2005-08-14T02:37:19Z")
**msmith537** - There are 2 main reasons why I don’t off myself. First, I’m a devout Catholic and suicide just isn’t an option. I really feel that God put me on this Earth for as long as it will take for my purpose in being here. I may not really be happy, and in fact I may be in physical pain most days, but that’s my lot in life. Secondly, my suicide would absolutely devastate my family. It’s not fair to them to think only of myself. I think it’s one of the most selfish acts a person can do. StG ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824/40 "2005-08-14T03:25:48Z")
Youth is too short. I wish I still had the energy to do the things I want to do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-really-believe-that-life-is-too-short/316824.md?page=3)