For tyme ylost may nought recovered be.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
The life so short, the crafts so long to learn.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is brief, while mastering skills takes a long time.
This quote emphasizes the contrast between the fleeting nature of life and the extensive time required to acquire meaningful skills and knowledge. It serves as a reminder to value our time, focusing on what truly matters, as our lifespans are limited while our pursuits can be lifelong endeavors.
Themes
LifeWisdomLearningTimeSkills
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to inspire students to continue learning.
More from Geoffrey Chaucer
All quotes βFor in their hearts doth Nature stir them so Then people long on pilgrimage to go And palmers to be seeking foreign strands To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
If gold rusts, what then can iron do?
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Thus with hir fader for a certeyn space_x000D_ _x000D_ Dwelleth this flour of wyfly pacience,_x000D_ _x000D_ That neither by hir wordes ne hir face_x000D_ _x000D_ Biforn the folk, ne eek in her absence,_x000D_ _x000D_ Ne shewed she that hir was doon offence.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be, That may bothe werke wel and hastily.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
For oute of olde feldys, as men sey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe corn from yer to yere;_x000D_ _x000D_ And out of olde bokis, in good fey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe science that men lere.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Similar quotes
I believe that words are strong, that they can overwhelm what we fear when fear seems more awful than life is good.
Andrew SolomonRead
It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward it, though we know it can never be reached.
Samuel JohnsonRead
You shouldn't expect people in the past to do things they couldn't have done.
Margaret MacmillanRead
You have not forgotten to remember; You have remembered to forget. But people can forget to forget. That is just as important as remembering to remember - and generally more practical.
Idries ShahRead
One of the many divine qualities of the Bible is that it does not yield its secrets to the irreverent and the censorious.
J. I. PackerRead
The greatest achievements of the human mind are generally received with distrust.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead