“As we speak cruel time is fleeing. Seize the day, believing as little as possible in the morrow.”

— Horace, book Odes

Book I, ode xi, line 7
John Conington's translation:
:In the moment of our talking, envious time has ebbed away,
Seize the present, trust tomorrow e'en as little as you may.
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)

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Horace92

Roman lyric poet -65–-8 BC

John Conington (1825–1869) British classical scholar

Book I, ode xi
Translations, The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace (1863)

“So it would seem to be true:
when cruel birth debases, we forget.
When cruel death debases,
we believe it erases all the rest
that precedes.
But stand brave, life-liver,
bleeding out your days
in the river of time.
Stand brave:
time moves both ways”

Joanna Newsom (1982) American musician

Divers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divers_(Joanna_Newsom_album) (2015)

“A little work, a little gay
To keep us going—and so good-day!

A little warmth, a little light
Of love’s bestowing—and so, good-night.

A little fun, to match the sorrow
Of each day’s growing—and so, good-morrow!

A little trust that when we die
We reap our sowing—and so—good-bye!”

George du Maurier book Trilby

Trilby (1894). Compare:
:PEU DE CHOSE
La vie est vaine,
Un peu d’amour,
Un peu de haine,
Et puis—Bonjour!

La vie est brève:
Un peu d’espoir,
Un peu de rève
Et puis—Bon soir!
::Léon de Montenaeken; translated by Louise Chandler Moulton as:
:Ah, brief is Life,
Love’s short sweet way,
With dreamings rife,
And then—Good-day!

And Life is vain—
Hope’s vague delight,
Grief’s transient pain,
And then—Good-night.

“Farewell, and when to-morrow
Seems little, like to-day,
And we find life's deepest sorrow
Melts gradual away;
Yet do not quite forget me.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

(1837 1) (Vol. 49) Songs - I.
The Monthly Magazine

“How was it possible for the world to be so beautiful and so cruel at the same time?”

Gillian Rubinstein Tales of the Otori

Source: Across the Nightingale Floor

“TO-MORROW, to-morrow, thou loveliest May,
To-morrow will rise up thy first-born day;
Bride of the summer, child of the spring,
To-morrow the year will its favourite bring:”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

The Golden Violet - title poem - introduction
The Golden Violet (1827)

“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German writer, artist, and politician

Bk. V, Ch. 1
Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre (Apprenticeship) (1786–1830)
Original: (de) Man sollte alle Tage wenigstens ein kleines Lied hören, ein gutes Gedicht lesen, ein treffliches Gemälde sehen und, wenn es möglich zu machen wäre, einige vernünftige Worte sprechen.

“Seize the day. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold and die.”

movie Dead Poets Society

John Keating character

“The first time flee; the second time, flee; and the third, become like a sword.”

Poemen (340–450) Egyptian monk and desert father

Saying 140

“Seize the day, whatever's in it to seize, before something comes along and seizes you.”

Lloyd Alexander (1924–2007) American children's writer

Source: The Arkadians

“As we speak cruel time is fleeing. Seize the day, believing as little as possible in the morrow.”

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