We should remember our dying, and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the
world.
—John Steinbeck, 1952
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help
me make the big choices in life.
—Steve Jobs, 2005
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his
life by a conscious endeavor.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1854
The great end of life is not knowledge but action.
—Thomas Henry Huxley, 1877
It is absolutely a crime for any man to die possessed of useful knowledge in which nobody
else shares.
—J. A. L. Waddell et al., 1933
What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the
world remains, and is immortal.
—Albert Pike, 1860
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
—Albert Einstein, 1932
***
Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for ever.
—Samuel Smiles, 1864
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
—Charles Darwin, 1836
We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.
Let us use it before it is too late.
—Marie Beynon Ray, 1953
20
We all have such a finite time to leave the world better than we found it.
—Dave Kellett, 2012
Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.
21
—Theophrastus
22
20
In several quote collections, the second name of the author is misspelled as “Beyon”.
21
Here I have to mention the extremely popular European proverb “Time is money” (frequently
misattributed to Benjamin Franklin), but only to register my humble opinion that it is rather
shallow.
22
First quoted by Diogenes Laërtius in third century AD.
On the World and Time, Life and Death
205
world.
—John Steinbeck, 1952
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help
me make the big choices in life.
—Steve Jobs, 2005
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his
life by a conscious endeavor.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1854
The great end of life is not knowledge but action.
—Thomas Henry Huxley, 1877
It is absolutely a crime for any man to die possessed of useful knowledge in which nobody
else shares.
—J. A. L. Waddell et al., 1933
What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the
world remains, and is immortal.
—Albert Pike, 1860
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
—Albert Einstein, 1932
***
Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for ever.
—Samuel Smiles, 1864
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
—Charles Darwin, 1836
We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.
Let us use it before it is too late.
—Marie Beynon Ray, 1953
20
We all have such a finite time to leave the world better than we found it.
—Dave Kellett, 2012
Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.
21
—Theophrastus
22
20
In several quote collections, the second name of the author is misspelled as “Beyon”.
21
Here I have to mention the extremely popular European proverb “Time is money” (frequently
misattributed to Benjamin Franklin), but only to register my humble opinion that it is rather
shallow.
22
First quoted by Diogenes Laërtius in third century AD.
On the World and Time, Life and Death
205