Time is so old and love so brief, love is pure gold and time a thief. We're late, darling, we're late, The curtain descends, everything ends, too soon, too soon.
Ogden NashRead
I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance, were it not for making living, which is rather a nouciance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote humorously expresses a desire for a carefree life, but acknowledges the necessity of work.
Ogden Nash's quote reflects the tension between a desire for a laid-back, carefree existence and the unavoidable responsibilities of life. He humorously suggests that while he would prefer to live with indifference and lightheartedness, the practical need to earn a living often complicates this ideal, prompting a sense of annoyance or 'nuisance.'
Themes
CarefreeWorkNuisanceLifeHumor
In practice
Example use cases
During a light-hearted discussion about work-life balance.
More from Ogden Nash
All quotes βI'm like a backward berry, Unripened on the vine, For all my friends are fifty, And I'm only forty-nine.
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I do not like to get the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons.
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Here's a good rule of thumb; too clever is dumb.
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Middle-age is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't for you.
Ogden NashRead
Here's a toast to the roast that good fellowship lends, with the sparkle of beer and wine; May its sentiment always be deeper, my friends, than the foam at the top of the stein. Then here's to the heartening wassail, wherever good fellows are found; Be its master instead of its vassal, and order the glasses around.
Ogden NashRead
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