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.
Ogden NashRead
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.
Ogden NashRead
Here's a good rule of thumb; too clever is dumb.
Ogden NashRead
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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