Letter 93 — On the Quality, as Contrasted with the Length, of Life (§11)

“There are books which contain very few lines, admirable and useful in spite of their size; and there are also the Annals of Tanusius,—you know how bulky the book is, and what men say of it. This is the case with the long life of certain persons,—a state which resembles the Annals of Tanusius!”