“O God! methinks, it were a happy life,
To be no better than a homely swain;
To sit upon a hill, as I do now,
To carve out dials quaintly, point by point,
Thereby to see the minutes how they run:
How many make the hour full complete,
How many hours bring about the day,
How many days will finish up the year,
How many years a mortal man may live.”
King Henry, Act II, scene v.
Henry VI, Part 3 (1592)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
William Shakespeare 699
English playwright and poet 1564–1616Related quotes

Speech at the University of Las Villas (1959)
'Tis but a Little, Faded Flower, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Source: Connie Robertson (1998). Book of Humorous Quotations. p. 2

“I want to know how many years I got.”
“Many,” said Ta-Kumsaw. “Or few. All that matters is what you do with however many years you have.”
Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Red Prophet (1988), Chapter 17.