
„The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne.
Th’ assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge,
The dredful joye, alwey that slit so yerne;
Al this mene I be love.“
— Geoffrey Chaucer, book Parlement of Foules
Parlement of Foules, l. 1-4; comparable with Hippocrates, Aphorisms 1:1
Source: The Parliament of Birds