Seneca's (De Brevitate Vitae, 1.1) Latin translation of the Greek by Hippocrates.
Misattributed
“Art indeed is long, but life is short.”
Andrew Marvell (1621–1678) English metaphysical poet and politician
Upon the Death of Lord Hastings (1649), last line
Variant: "Art is long, and time is fleeting." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life (1839).
“Art is long, life short; judgment difficult, opportunity transient.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German writer, artist, and politician
Die Kunst ist lang, das Leben kurz, das Urteil schwierig, die Gelegenheit flüchtig.
Bk. VII, Ch. 9
Cf. Hippocrates, Ars longa vita brevis, Aphorisms 1:1
Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre (Apprenticeship) (1786–1830)
“Life is short, but the years are long.”
Robert A. Heinlein book Methuselah's Children
Part of the secret "call and response" codewords by which members of the long-lived Howard Families can identify others:
: Life is short.
But the years are long.
Not while the evil days come not.
Methuselah's Children (1958)
“Life is too short, and Proust is too long.”
Anatole France (1844–1924) French writer
Apparently an invention by Maurice Sachs; see discussion in Quotes about Proust.
Misattributed
“Prizefighting is short. Get in. Get rich. Get out. But martial arts is for life. It's for life.”
Conor McGregor (1988) Irish mixed martial artist and boxer
UFC 178 post-event press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAAC34JzxS0 (September 2014), Ultimate Fighting Championship, Zuffa, LLC <br class="br">2010s, 2014
“Life is short, but its ills make it seem long.”
Publilio Siro Latin writer
Maxim 124
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave
