“Life's short span forbids us to enter on far reaching hopes.”

—  Horace, book Odes

Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam.
Book I, ode iv, line 15
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Life's short span forbids us to enter on far reaching hopes." by Horace?
Horace photo
Horace92
Roman lyric poet -65–-8 BC

Related quotes

Ellen DeGeneres photo

“Life is short. If you doubt me, ask a butterfly. Their average life span is a mere five to fourteen days.”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

Source: The Funny Thing Is...

Arthur Schopenhauer photo

“Life is short and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Source: The World as Will and Representation, Vol 1

Bill Bryson photo

“America was entering the age not just of the automobile but of the retarded attention span.”

Bill Bryson A Walk in the Woods

Source: A Walk in the Woods (1997), Chapter 18 (p. 234)

Neal Stephenson photo

“As far as culture and politics are concerned, the important theme is long-attention-span vs. short-attention-span thinking. I'm sure that your readers can think of any number of ways in which having a longer attention span can be useful. But I'll name one. Bankers with long attention spans don't lend money to people who can't pay it back. If we had more bankers who adopted a long-term view of their responsibilities, we might not be in the middle of a financial crisis that is blowing away 150-year-old investment banks.”

Neal Stephenson (1959) American science fiction writer

In response to whether Anathem "reflects today's culture or politics," from an interview published Sept. 22, 2008 by MIT News http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/stephenson-qa-0922.html

Abraham Cowley photo

“Fond archer, Hope! who tak'st thy aim so far,
That still or short, or wide thine arrows are!”

Abraham Cowley Against Hope

Against Hope.

Poul Anderson photo

“Men, whose span is cruelly short, rush nonetheless to death in their youth as to a maiden’s arms.”

Poul Anderson book The Broken Sword

Source: The Broken Sword (1954), Chapter 10 (p. 55)

“When you reach for the stars, you are reaching for the farthest thing out there. When you reach deep into yourself, it is the same thing, but in the opposite direction. If you reach in both directions, you will have spanned the universe.”

Vera Nazarian (1966) American writer

Source: The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Paul Simon photo

“A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And woe my nights are so long”

Paul Simon (1941) American musician, songwriter and producer

You Can Call Me Al
Song lyrics, Graceland (1986)

Related topics