First Quote Added
April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"Condition de l'homme, inconstance, ennui, inquietude."
": The state of man is inconstancy, ennui, anxiety."
"On s'eveille, on se léve, on s'habille, et l'on sort; On rentre, on dine, on soupe, on se couche, et l'on dort."
": One awakens, one rises, one dresses, and one goes forth; One returns, one dines, one sups, one retires and one sleeps."
"Natura, vero nihil hominibus brevitate vitæ præstitit melius."
": Nature has given man no better thing than shortness of life."
"She went from opera, park, assembly, play, To morning walks, and prayers three hours a day. To part her time 'twixt reading and bohea, To muse, and spill her solitary tea, Or o'er cold coffee trifle with the spoon, Count the slow clock, and dine exact at noon."
"Learn to live well, or fairly make your will; You've play'd, and lov'd, and ate, and drank your fill: Walk sober off, before a sprightlier age Comes titt'ring on, and shoves you from the stage."
"Through the sequester'd vale of rural life The venerable patriarch guileless held The tenor of his way."
"Amid two seas, on one small point of land, Wearied, uncertain, and amazed we stand."
"Who breathes must suffer; and who thinks, must mourn; And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born."
"So vanishes our state; so pass our days; So life but opens now, and now decays; The cradle and the tomb, alas! so nigh, To live is scarce distinguish'd from to die."
"Half my life is full of sorrow, Half of joy, still fresh and new; One of these lives is a fancy, But the other one is true."
"Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am."
"As for man his days are as grass; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth."
"The wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."
"Man's life is like a Winter's day: Some only breakfast and away; Others to dinner stay and are full fed, The oldest man but sups and goes to bed. Long is his life who lingers out the day, Who goes the soonest has the least to pay; Death is the Waiter, some few run on tick, And some alas! must pay the bill to Nick! Tho' I owed much, I hope long trust is given, And truly mean to pay all bills in Heaven."
"The romance of life begins and ends with two blank pages. Age and extreme old age."
"Der Mensch hat hier dritthalb Minuten, eine zu lächeln—eine zu seufzen—und eine halbe zu lieben: denn mitten in dieser Minute stirbt er."
": Man has here two and a half minutes—one to smile, one to sigh, and a half to love: for in the midst of this minute he dies."
"Jeder Mensch hat eine Regen-Ecke seines Lebens aus der ihm das schlimme Wetter nachzieht."
": Every man has a rainy corner of his life out of which foul weather proceeds and follows after him."
"Die Parzen und Furien ziehen auch mit verbundnen Händen um das Leben, wie die Grazien und die Sirenen."
": The Fates and Furies, as well as the Graces and Sirens, glide with linked hands over life."
"Nur Thaten geben dem Leben Stärke, nur Maas ihm Reiz."
": Only deeds give strength to life, only moderation gives it charm."
"I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store."
"I worked for a menial's hire, Only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have paid."
"In speaking to you men of the greatest city of the West, men of the state which gave to the country Lincoln and Grant, men who preeminently and distinctly embody all that is most American in the American character, I wish to preach not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life."
"This life is but the passage of a day, This life is but a pang and all is over; But in the life to come which fades not away Every love shall abide and every lover."
"Life's but a span, or a tale, or a word, That in a trice, or suddaine, is rehearsèd."
"Vita ipsa qua fruimur brevis est."
": The very life which we enjoy is short."
"Ignavia nemo immortalis factus: neque quisquam parens liberis, uti æterni forent, optavit; magis, uti boni honestique vitam exigerent."
": No one has become immortal by sloth; nor has any parent prayed that his children should live forever; but rather that they should lead an honorable and upright life."
"Say, what is life? 'Tis to be born, A helpless Babe, to greet the light With a sharp wail, as if the morn Foretold a cloudy noon and night; To weep, to sleep, and weep again, With sunny smiles between; and then?"
"Wir, wir leben! Unser sind die Stunden Und der Lebende hat Recht."
": We, we live! ours are the hours, and the living have their claims."
"Nicht der Tummelplatz des Lebens—sein Gehalt bestimmt seinen Werth."
": 'Tis not the mere stage of life but the part we play thereon that gives the value."
"Nicht seine Freudenseite kehrte dir Das Leben zu."
": Life did not present its sunny side to thee."
"Wouldst thou wisely, and with pleasure, Pass the days of life's short measure, From the slow one counsel take, But a tool of him ne'er make; Ne'er as friend the swift one know, Nor the constant one as foe."
"Des Lebens Mai blüht einmal und nicht wieder."
": The May of life blooms once and never again."
"O'er Ocean, with a thousand masts, sails forth the stripling bold— One boat, hard rescued from the deep, draws into port the old!"
"I've lived and loved."
"Das Spiel des Lebens sieht sich heiter an, Wenn man den sichern Schatz im Herzen trägt."
": Live in such a way as, when you come to die, you will wish to have lived."
"Death's got to be easy, because life is hard. It'll leave you physically, mentally, and emotionally scarred."