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Transience


Transience

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Quotations

André MalrauxIt takes 60 years to make a man, and after that he is only good to die.

—  André Malraux, 1901-1976, French writer & statesman

9 likes
Eugene IonescoOnly the ephemeral lasts.

—  Eugene Ionesco, 1912-1994, French-Romanian playwright

7 likes
Fyodor DostoyevskyEverything passes, only truth remains.

—  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer

7 likes
T. S. EliotYou are the music while the music lasts.

—  T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948

6 likes
Antonio PorchiaWhat words say does not last. The words last. Because words are always the same, and what they say is never the same.

—  Antonio Porchia, 1885-1968, Italian-Argentinian poet

5 likes
Jorge Luis BorgesNothing is built on stone. All is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.

—  Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer

5 likes
Charles de GaulleTreaties are like roses and young girls. They last while they last.

—  Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970, French President

4 likes
La RochefoucauldLuck must be dealt with like health: enjoy it when it is good, be patient when it is bad.

—  La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French writer

4 likes
Philip RothNothing lasts and yet nothing passes either, and nothing passes just because nothing lasts.

—  Philip Roth, 1933-2018, American writer

4 likes
Stefan ZweigEvery wave, regardless of how high and forceful it crests, must eventually collapse within itself.

—  Stefan Zweig, 1881-1942, Austrian writer

4 likes
Stephen KingEverything goes away, Jack Sawyer, like the moon. Everything comes back, like the moon.

—  Stephen King, 1947-, American author of horror & fantasy fiction

4 likes
Andy WarholI’m really afraid to feel happy because it never lasts.

—  Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, American artist

3 likes
Antoine RivarolNature has four great scenes – the seasons – and always the same actors: the sun, the moon and the stars. But it constantly changes the audience.

—  Antoine Rivarol, 1753-1801, French author of maxims

3 likes
Nelson AlgrenIt is strange how fragile this man-creature is.....in one second he's just garbage. Garbage, that's all.

—  Nelson Algren, 1909-1981, American writer

3 likes
E. M. ForsterShe loved him absolutely, perhaps for half an hour.

—  E. M. Forster, 1879-1970, British writer

2 likes
Marlen DietrichWhere have all the flowers gone?

—  Marlen Dietrich, 1901-1992, German-American actress

2 likes
HoraceLife’s short span forbids us to enter on far reaching hopes.

—  Horace, 65-8 BC, Roman poet

2 likes
Karl LagerfeldFashion is ephemeral, dangerous and unfair.

—  Karl Lagerfeld, 1933-2019, German fashion designer

2 likes
Nicolas Gomez DavilaThe modern world seems invincible. Like the extinct dinosaurs.

—  Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994, Colombian writer

Leonardo da VinciAvoid studies of which the result dies with the worker.

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

Simone De Beauvoir If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.

—  Simone De Beauvoir, 1908-1986, French writer

BouddhaThe trouble is, you think you have time.

—  Bouddha, 563-483 BC, Indian founder of Buddhism

Coco ChanelFashion fades, only style remains the same.

—  Coco Chanel, 1883-1971, French fashion designer

Coco ChanelFashion is made to become unfashionable.

—  Coco Chanel, 1883-1971, French fashion designer

W.H. AudenWhat the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish.

—  W.H. Auden, 1907-1973, British poet

Sri AurobindoThe first and the most important thing is to know that life is one and immortal. Only the forms, countless in number, are transient and brittle. The life everlasting is independent of any form but manifests itself in all forms. Life then does not die... but the forms are dissolved.

—  Sri Aurobindo, 1872-1950, Indian nationalist, yogi & philosopher

Henry MillerIt is almost banal to say so yet it needs to be stressed continually: all is creation, all is change, all is flux, all is metamorphosis.

—  Henry Miller, 1891-1980, American writer

Maurice ChapelanHappiness is sand between the fingers in the wind.

—  Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist

Philip DickEverything in life is just for a while.

—  Philip Dick, 1928-1982, American sci-fi writer

Francis BaconBegin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake.

—  Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher

George HerbertOld praise dies unless you feed it.

—  George Herbert, 1593-1633, Welsh poet

Frida KahloNothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.

—  Frida Kahlo, 1907-1954, Mexican painter

Frida KahloSo absurd and fleeting is our passage through this world, that only the knowledge that I have been authentic, that I have managed to be the closest thing to myself, leaves me calm.

—  Frida Kahlo, 1907-1954, Mexican painter

Marguerite YourcenarEvery moment is the last, because it is unique.

—  Marguerite Yourcenar, 1903-1987, French writer

Thomas SowellFailure is part of the natural cycle of business. Companies are born, companies die, capitalism moves forward.

—  Thomas Sowell, 1930 -, American political thinker

Latin Quotes

Latin phraseThus passes the glory of the world.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

—  Latin phrase

29 likes
Night, shortly.

Mox nox.

—  Medieval Sundial motto

23 likes
Latin phraseEven in Arcadia was I.

Et in Arcadia ego.

—  Latin phrase

—  Tomb inscription in the painting of Nicolas Poussin “Shepherds of Arcadia”

     (Arcadia, in Peloponnese, symbolizes Utopia)

13 likes

Quotes in Verse

Rainer Maria RilkeLet everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final.

—  Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet

Rudyard KiplingCities and Thrones and Powers
Stand in Time's eye,
Almost as long as flowers,
Which daily die.

—  Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936, English writer, Nobel 1907

Ancient Greek

HeraclitusEverything flows, nothing stands still.

Τα πάντα ρει και ουδέν μένει.

—  Heraclitus, 544-484 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

26 likes
Periander of CorinthPleasures are transient, honors are immortal.

Αι μεν ηδοναί φθαρταί, αι δε τιμαί αθάνατοι.

—  Periander of Corinth, 668-584 BC, tyrant of Corinth

17 likes
Marcus AureliusThe universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

Ο κόσμος αλλοίωσις, ο βίος υπόληψις.

—  Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor ‐ Meditations IV, 3

16 likes
Periander of CorinthLearn to bear bravely the changes of fortune.

Τας μεταβολάς της τύχης γενναίως επίστασο φέρειν.

—  Periander of Corinth, 668-584 BC, tyrant of Corinth

14 likes
MenanderAlways keep in mind that things change.

Καιρών μεταβολήν πάντοτε χρη σε σκοπείν.

—  Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy)

12 likes
Marcus AureliusDo not act as if you are going to live ten thousand years. The inevitable hangs over you. As long as you live, while it is in your power, be good.

Μη ως μύρια μέλλων έτη ζην. Το χρεών επήρτηται. Έως ζης, έως έξεστιν, αγαθός γενού.

—  Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor ‐ Meditations IV, 16

11 likes
EuripidesNo mortal can be fortunate until his end.

Θνητών όλβιος εις το τέλος ουδείς.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Iphigeneia at Aulis

11 likes
HerodotusKnowing that human happiness never remains long in the same place.

Την ανθρωπηίην ων επιστάμενος ευδαιμονίην ουδαμά εν τωυτώ μένουσαν.

—  Herodotus, 480-420 BC, Ancient Greek historian, the “ father of History”

8 likes
HesiodSometimes the day is a step mother, sometimes a mother.

Άλλοτε μηρτυιή πέλει ημέρη, άλλοτε μήτηρ.

—  Hesiod, 7th cent. BC, Ancient Greek poet ‐ Works and Days -825

8 likes
HomerAnd you, old man, we are told you prospered once.

Και σε γέρον το πριν μεν ακούομεν όλβιον είναι.

—  Homer, c. 800-750 BC, Ancient Greek Poet ‐ Iliad XXIV

     (Achilles to Priam)

6 likes
Marcus AureliusShort-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered.

Βραχύβιον και ο επαινών και ο επαινούμενος και ο μνημονεύων και ο μνημονευόμενος.

—  Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor ‐ Meditations VIII, 21

5 likes
EuripidesThe great happiness is not lasting among mortals.

Ο μέγας όλβος ού μόνιμος εν βροτοίς.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Orestes

4 likes
HerodotusGod likes to bring low all things of surpassing greatness.

Φιλέει γαρ ο θεός τα υπερέχοντα πάντα κολούειν.

—  Herodotus, 480-420 BC, Ancient Greek historian, the “ father of History”

3 likes

Proverbs

French proverbAll pass, all fade, all break.

Tout passe, tout lasse, tout casse.

—  French proverb

9 likes



Similar categories & topics of Quotations






Similar Topics

Futility

Change

Rise & Decline

Fashion

Timing

Happiness

Degradation

New

Uncertainty

Forgetting

Nostalgia

Luck & Chance

Duration

Contrary Topics

No Change

Firmness

Security

Irreversible

 Popular Topics
1 Friendship
2 Victory & Defeat
3 Solitude
4 Seduction
5 Self-reliance
6 Ego
7 Drinking
8 Cunning
9 Eroticism
10 Nudity
11 Vanity
12 Self-deprecation
13 Incompetence
14 Sex
15 Religion
16 Meaning of Life
17 Life
18 Death
19 Corruption
20 Democracy
 

2024: Manolis Papathanassiou