QuoteProject
Art is long, life is short; judgement difficult, opportunity transient.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Art endures while life is fleeting and opportunities are often missed.

This quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe reflects on the paradox of human existence, highlighting that while art can last for generations, our lives are brief and filled with challenges. It suggests that the creation of art requires time and effort, whereas life is ultimately short and filled with fleeting moments of opportunity that can easily be overlooked or lost.

Themes

ArtLifeOpportunityJudgementTransience

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about creativity at a conference, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of pursuing artistic endeavors despite life's brevity.

More from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
I am amazed to see how deliberately I have entangled myself step by step. To have seen my position so clearly, and yet to have acted so like a child!
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Seldom in the business and transactions of ordinary life, do we find the sympathy we want.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead

Similar quotes

He with a graceful pride, While his rider every hand survey'd, Sprung loose, and flew into an escapade; Not moving forward, yet with every bound Pressing, and seeming still to quit his ground.
John DrydenRead
Doctors can heal the body, but it is music that uplifts the spirit.
Mother TeresaRead
I think the only thing filmmakers can do is try to make good movies and make them as long as they allow us to keep making them. But at the end of the day, it is a business, and if audiences don't care, there's nothing we can do. It'll just go away, I guess.
Robert ZemeckisRead
I see myself first and foremost as a student of expression.
Anna Deavere SmithRead
I use the grotesque the way I do because people are deaf and dumb and need help to see and hear.
Flannery O'ConnorRead
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!
William ShakespeareRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe | QuoteProject