To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life is but a walking shadow; a poor player.
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Macbeth, Act v. Sc. 5 SHAKESPEARE.
The web of our life is of a mingled
Yarn, good and ill together.
All's Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE.
And what's a life?—a weary pilgrimage,
Whose glory in one day doth fill the stage
With childhood, manhood, and decrepit age.
What is Life? P. QUARLES.
An elegant sufficiency, content,
Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books,
Ease and alternate labor, useful life,
Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven!
The Seasons: Spring. J. THOMSON.
On life's vast ocean diversely we sail,
Reason the card, but passion is the gale.
Essay on Man, Epistle II. A. POPE.
I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life; but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.
Julius Cæsar, Act i. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE.
Why, what should be the fear?
I do not set my life at a pin's fee.
Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE.
"Life is not lost," said she, "for which is bought
Endlesse renowne."
Faërie Queene, Bk. III. Canto XI. E. SPENSER.
Our life is scarce the twinkle of a star
In God's eternal day.
Autumnal Vespers. B. TAYLOR.
There taught us how to live; and (oh, too high
The price for knowledge!) taught us how to die.
On the Death of Addison. T. TICKELL.