It has often been pointed out that, for a “normal” person, the time spent between death and a new birth is long when compared to the time spent in the physical body, between birth and death. The time spent between death and rebirth is only short for those who had “negative” earthly lives; those who, so to speak, committed truly criminal acts.
Only then is the time spent between death and rebirth short. But for people who go through “normal” earthly lives, without being submerged in egoism, the time spent between death and rebirth is usually relatively long.
Source (German); Rudolf Steiner – GA 162 – Kunst- und Lebensfragen im Lichte der Geisteswissenschaft – Dornach, May 30, 1915 (page 71)
Anonymous translator