We are but dust and shadow.

—

I am human: Nothing human is alien to me.

—

Let there be light.

— ‐ Genesis 1:3

(from the Vulgate)

Hard work conquers all.

—

Bad from the good.

—

All good from God, all evil from man.

—

An evil thing known is best.

—

While we live, let us live!

—

Art is long, life is short.

—

Life is not about living, but to live a good life.

—

Life is one long struggle in the dark.

—

Life is in motion.

— Sundial motto

He lives twice who lives well.

—

Life flows away as it seems to stay the same.

— Medieval Sundial motto

Remember death.

—

Let us live, since we must die.

—

Death has the last word.

—

Death equals all things.

—

From the moment we are born, we begin to die.

—

Death is certain, the hour is not certain.

—

They lived.

—

(after the execution of the participants in the Catilinarian conspiracy; meaning: “they are dead”)

I shall not wholly die.

—

One night awaits everyone.

—

So potent was Religion in persuading to do wrong.

—

God wills.

—

(the motto of the Christian warriors in the Crusades)

Leave all else to the gods.

—

The gods are on the side of the stronger.

—

What the gods want happens soon.

—

First of all, worship the gods.

—

Called or not called, God is present.

—

I see what is better, and approve it, but I follow the worse.

—

The king can do no wrong.

—

Pray and Work.

— Motto of the Benedictine Order

I believe because it is absurd.

—

What always, what everywhere, what by everybody.

— Saint Vincent of Lerins, 5th century Gallic monk

(determining what Catholics must believe to fight heresy)

If I cannot sway the heavens, I will raise hell.

—

Get off my back, Satan

— ‐ 8:33

(from the Vulgate, spoken by Jesus to Peter)

Everything unknown seems magnificent.

—

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

—

(or V.V.V.V.V.; mentioned also in the graphic novel “V for Vendetta”)

Dedicate your life to truth.

—

Thus passes the glory of the world.

—

Night, shortly.

— Medieval Sundial motto

Art is long, life is short.

—

Use the hours, don’t count them.

— Medieval Sundial Motto

Time devours everything.

—

All hours wound, the last one kills.

— Medieval Sundial motto

Time flies without return.

—

It’s later than you think.

— Sundial motto

Eternity is hinged upon this moment.

— Medieval Sundial Motto

An hour passes slowly, but the years go by quickly.

— Medieval Sundial motto

Unto the ages of ages.

—

(from the Vulgate; translation of the original Greek “εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων”)

I have made a monument more lasting than bronze.

—

We are all sprung from a heavenly seed.

—

Truth hates delay.

—

An hour passes slowly, but the years go by quickly.

— Medieval Sundial motto

If glory comes after death, I hurry not.

—

Faster, Higher, Stronger

— Motto of the Olympic Games

(initially, a motto of Pierre de Coubertin’s school)

He who gives quickly, gives double.

—

The end crowns the work.

—

(i.e. a work can be judged only after it is finished or how is finished)

Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over!

—

(a little before his death)

All hours wound, the last one kills.

— Medieval Sundial motto

What harms, often teaches.

—

One should learn even from one's enemies.

—

What hurts often instructs.

—

The man who sleeps does not sin.

—

Nature abhors a vacuum.

—

I shall either find a way or make one.

—

(crossing the Alps with his army around 212 BC)

Beaten path, safe path.

—

The beginnings of all things are small.

—

New order of the ages.

— motto on the Great Seal of the United States

There are as many opinions as there are people: each has his own view.

—

Dog does not eat dog.

—

If we may compare small things with great…

—

Extreme justice [means] extreme injustice.

—

Homeland is where your life is good.

—

Abuse does not cancel use.

—

(misuse of something is no argument against its proper use)

Nothing is certain to men.

—

The life of a human being is like a shadow.

— Medieval Sundial motto

Even in Arcadia was I.

—

— Tomb inscription in the painting of Nicolas Poussin “Shepherds of Arcadia”

(Arcadia in Peloponnese symbolizes Utopia)

Always the same.

—

He who does not advance, goes backwards.

—

Nothing is new under the sun.

—

An exception tests the rule as to things not excepted.

—