C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus (61 - 114 A.D.), also known as Pliny the Younger, said "Multum, Non Multa."
Translated, it says, "Much, not many."
I am not sure what he meant by it or why he said it, after all, I'm no philologist. And, being as he's been dead a long time, I feel quite free in the following interpretation:
Quality, not quantity.
Think about how many applications this has to our modern, busy, frenzied, materialistic lives.
As applied to friendships.
As applied to possessions.
As applied to accomplishments.
We trade so much of ourselves for more, more, more, when instead we should likely be demanding better, better, better.
One of my favorite sayings comes from the movie Hitch: "Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breath away." Those moments are available to us all. They exist in the gaps between the things we have scheduled, planned, organized, and orchestrated. They occur in and around all the other events we trick ourselves into thinking are important. Suddenly one of those little moments will occur; a hug, a cute question from a child, a warm compliment from a friend, an act of kindness from a stranger, a look of honesty from an acquaintance, and like hearing an old song, we remember.
Let us not be so consumed with getting through that we let it all pass by.
Let us not be in such a hurry to get there that we don't experience what's here.
Let us not be so obsessed with making a living that we miss out on making a life.
Much, not many.
