Life is short; art is long


Good work takes a long time to accomplish. The earliest version of this famous saying that we know of is by the great Greek medical doctor Hippocrates. It was repeated by many artists and writers including Seneca, Geoffrey Chaucer, Goethe, Longfellow, and Browning.

Words Nearby Life is short; art is long

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.