Life is half spent before one knows what life is.
—French proverb
Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
—Samuel Butler, 1895
Life is a maze in which we take the wrong turning before we have learnt to walk.
—Cyril Connolly, 1933
Life is the only art that we are required to practice without preparation.
—Lewis Mumford, 1951
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.
—John W. Gardner, 1992
12
***
Life is something that happens when you can’t get to sleep.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1978
Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.
—Allen Saunders, 1957
13
Life flows on within you and without you.
—George Harrison, 1967
***
Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experimentation perilous, and judgment
difficult.
14
—Hippocrates
15
Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it’s all over much too soon.
—Woody Allen, 1975
Life isn’t long enough for love and art.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1919
Life is too short to stuff a mushroom.
—Shirley Conran, 1975
Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.
—André Maurois, 1939
12
Actually, he began this line as “Somebody said that …”.
13
Frequently misattributed to others, including John Lennon, who included this line into his song
(recorded in 1980). A more recent popular (anonymous?) version of this maxim is: “Life is what
passes by while you’re texting.”.
14
From the context, the word “art” here means the art and science of medicine.
15
This sentence was popular already among the Romans, in a shorter Latin form: “Ars longa, vita
brevis”.
202
On the World and Time, Life and Death
—French proverb
Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
—Samuel Butler, 1895
Life is a maze in which we take the wrong turning before we have learnt to walk.
—Cyril Connolly, 1933
Life is the only art that we are required to practice without preparation.
—Lewis Mumford, 1951
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.
—John W. Gardner, 1992
12
***
Life is something that happens when you can’t get to sleep.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1978
Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.
—Allen Saunders, 1957
13
Life flows on within you and without you.
—George Harrison, 1967
***
Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experimentation perilous, and judgment
difficult.
14
—Hippocrates
15
Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it’s all over much too soon.
—Woody Allen, 1975
Life isn’t long enough for love and art.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1919
Life is too short to stuff a mushroom.
—Shirley Conran, 1975
Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.
—André Maurois, 1939
12
Actually, he began this line as “Somebody said that …”.
13
Frequently misattributed to others, including John Lennon, who included this line into his song
(recorded in 1980). A more recent popular (anonymous?) version of this maxim is: “Life is what
passes by while you’re texting.”.
14
From the context, the word “art” here means the art and science of medicine.
15
This sentence was popular already among the Romans, in a shorter Latin form: “Ars longa, vita
brevis”.
202
On the World and Time, Life and Death