Fleeting Life Quotes

“For it is up to you and me
to take solace
in nostalgia's arms

and our ability
to create
the everlasting
from fleeting moments.”
― Sanober Khan, A touch, a tear, a tempest

“The magic fades too fast
the scent of summer never lasts
the nights turn hollow and vast
but nothing remains...nothing lasts.”
― Sanober Khan

“On the Death of his Child

Dew Evaporates
And all our world is dew...so dear,
So fresh, so fleeting”
― Issa, Japanese Haiku

“At the end of the day
all we ever need is
something
that helped
pass the time
and something
that keeps time from passing.”
― Sanober Khan

“I am young now and can look upon my body and soul with pride. But it will be mangled soon, and later it will begin to disintegrate, and then I shall die, and die conclusively. How can we face such a fact, and not live in fear?”
― Jack Kerouac

“you are
as fleetingly beautiful

as a mother’s tears
and a father’s pranks

a brother’s bachelorhood
and a best friend’s bad mood

a bride’s glittering jitters
and a handsome stranger’s smile.”
― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

“Take fireflies for example. Try to imagine their beauty, the evanescent beauty of their lives, which don't even last a week.

Female fireflies flash their lights only to have intercourse with the males; males twinkle just to have intercourse with the females. And once their mating has finished, they die. In short, their reproductive instinct is the single, absolute reason for fireflies to live. In that simple instinct and their simple world, no kind of sadness can intervene. This is precisely why fireflies are so fleetingly beautiful.”
― Tatsuhiko Takimoto, Welcome to the N.H.K.

“Steadfast Seas and Mountains

The lofty mountains and the seas,
Being mountains, being seas,
Both exist and are real.
But frail as flowers are the lives of men,
Passing phantoms of this world.”
― Reiko Chiba, Hiroshige's Tokaido in Prints and Poetry

“I whispered "Now! ... Now! ... Now!" ... over and over, faster and faster, into the wind as the world whipped by, trying to catch the moment when the word was what it is: when "now" became "NOW". But in the time it takes to say "now", "now" is already over. It's already "then".”
― Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being

“The present moment, though fleeting, is the only tangible moment.
The rest are but a heap of memories.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, The Oneironaut’s Diary

“Knowing even as I craved permanence in New York City, that would never come to pass. The pair of us would live for as long as we could. As well as well could. That was all. Then we'd blow away like wishes made on dandelion heads.”
― Lyndsay Faye, The Fatal Flame

“A strong wind is blowing and there are little crests of foam on the waves. Look carefully at the millions of shimmering white bubbles rising and then vanishing with each wave. Over and over again, new bubbles come to the surface and then vanish in time with the waves. For a brief moment they are lifted on the wave’s crest and then they sink down and are seen no more. We are like that. Each one of us no more than a tiny glimmering thing, a sparkling droplet on the waves of time which flow past beneath us into an unknown, misty future. We leap up, look around us and, before we know it, we vanish again. We can hardly be seen in the great river of time. New drops keep rising to the surface. And what we call our fate is no more than our struggle in that multitude of droplets in the rise and fall of one wave. But we must make use of that moment. It is worth the effort.”
― Gombrich Ernst H

“At old age, one realizes that life is truly a dream.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, The Oneironaut’s Diary

“This day’s my last- or maybe it isn’t, but it’s not so far away from it.”
― Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“मुख्तसर सी जिंदगी है जीने के लिए, जाने लॉग लाते काहा से है वक़्त नफ़रत करने के लिए”
― Honeya

“After they became lovers, they would look back on this brink, and admit that each had guessed the other's awareness. Despite past affairs, they were both still young enough for the excitement which springs from sensing that a story has begun whose end can't be foreseen; and they were both old enough to know that life could offer them few if any more such beginnings. Youth was giving them each a last chance, since each had reached youth's outer suburbs.”
― Christopher J. Koch, The Year of Living Dangerously

“Fate’s Smile"
That line from an old Turkish song
is still ringing my ears…
A song they used to play on the radio
in my teenage years
on hot and boring summer days…
The song had melancholy tunes,
recoded with basic technology…
The singer repeated in a hesitant and defeated voice:
Bize de bir gün kader güler, güler inşallah…
[The fate will one day smile at us, too. One day it will smile, Inshallah…]

[Original poem published in Arabic on August 12, 2023 at ahewar.org]”
― Louis Yako

“The awareness of mortality casts a bittersweet shadow over the vibrancy of life and love. We exist in a state of impermanence, where beauty fades and connection dissolves. Yet, it is precisely this impermanence that imbues life with its preciousness and love with its urgency. In the face of oblivion, love becomes a defiant act, a bridge we build across the chasm of the ephemeral, a testament to the enduring power of connection in a fleeting existence."

The quote's appreciation for love in the face of life's fleeting nature echoes Epicurean ideals. This emphasizes the existentialist concept of living in a finite world and the absurdist notion of creating meaning in the face of nothingness. It highlights love as a way to transcend the impermanence of life and forge a connection that defies the inevitable.

The concept of finding meaning and beauty in a world wracked by impermanence aligns closely with the philosophy of Epicurus.

Epicureanism emphasizes living a virtuous and pleasure-filled life while minimizing pain. Though often misinterpreted as mere hedonism, Epicurus also stressed the importance of intellectual pursuits, close friendships, and facing mortality with courage.

Unfortunately, Epicurus himself didn't write any essays or novels in the traditional sense. Most of his teachings were delivered in letters and discourses to his students and followers. These were later compiled by others, most notably Hermarchus, who helped establish Epicurean philosophy.

The core tenets of Epicureanism are scattered throughout various ancient texts, including:

*Principal Doctrines: A summary of Epicurus' core beliefs, likely compiled by Hermarchus.
*Letter to Menoeceus: A letter outlining the path to happiness through a measured approach to pleasure and freedom from fear.
*Vatican Sayings: A collection of sayings and aphorisms attributed to Epicurus.

These texts, along with Diogenes Laërtius' Lives and Sayings of the Philosophers, which includes biographical details about Epicurus, provide the best understanding of his philosophy.

Love is but an 'Ephemeral Embrace'. Life explodes into a vibrant party, a kaleidoscope of moments that dims as the sun dips below the horizon. The people we adore, the bonds we forge, all tinged with the bittersweet knowledge that nothing lasts forever. But it's this very impermanence that makes everything precious, urging us to savor the here and now.

Imagine Epicurus nudging us and saying, "True pleasure isn't a fleeting high, it's the joy of sharing good times with the people you love." Even knowing things end, we can create a life brimming with love's connections. Love becomes an act of creation, weaving threads of shared joy into a tapestry of memories.

Think of your heart as a garden. Love tells you to tend it with care, for it's the source of connection with others. In a world of constant change, love compels us to nurture our inner essence and share it with someone special. Love transcends impermanence by fostering a deep connection that enriches who we are at our core.

Loss is as natural as breathing. But love says this: "Let life unfold, with all its happy moments and tearful goodbyes. Only then can you understand the profound beauty of impermanence." Love allows us to experience the full spectrum of life's emotions, embracing the present while accepting impermanence. It grants depth and meaning to our fleeting existence.

Even knowing everything ends, love compels us to build a haven, a space where hearts connect. It's a testament to the enduring power of human connection in a world in flux.

So let's love fiercely, vibrantly, because in the face of our impermanence, love erects a bridge to something that transcends the temporary.”
― Monika Ajay Kaul