Mankind, fleet of life, like tree leaves, weak creatures of clay, unsubstantial as shadows, wingless, ephemeral, wretched, mortal and dreamlike.

Aristophanes

Birds

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More information about this quote

Topic

Ephemeral nature of life

Author

Aristophanes

Source

Birds

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

424 BC 420s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Occupation

Playwright Writer

From

Greece Europe Ancient Greece

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristophanes. Ὄρνιθες [Birds]. c. 414, Dionysia, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Aristophanes. "Birds." Aristophanes: The Complete Plays, translated by Paul Roche. New American Library/Berkley, 2005.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Aristophanes about ephemeral nature of life: “Mankind, fleet of life, like tree leaves, weak creatures…”
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A quote by Aristophanes about ephemeral nature of life: “Mankind, fleet of life, like tree leaves, weak creatures…”
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A quote by Aristophanes about ephemeral nature of life: “Mankind, fleet of life, like tree leaves, weak creatures…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Ephemeral nature of life

As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.

Psalm 103:15-16

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More information about this quote
Topic
Ephemeral nature of life Shortness of life The human condition
Source
Psalms The Bible
Medium
Scripture
Genre
Religious literature
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
Hebrew
Time
450 BC 450s BC 5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Citation

The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, 1982. (Psalm 103:15-16).

Another quote from the 5th century BC

For the one thing even God cannot do is change the past.

Agathon

Quoted in The Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle

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More information about this quote
Topic
God's power God Changing the past The past
Speaker
Agathon

Author

Aristotle
Source
The Nicomachean Ethics
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics], written by Aristotle. c. 350 BC, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Nicomachean Ethics, written by Aristotle, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing Company, 2019, bk. 6, ch. 2.

Another quote from Classical antiquity

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Jesus

Matthew 6:24

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More information about this quote
Topic
Priorities Love of money Wealth Sermon on the Mount
Speaker
Jesus
Source
Gospel of Matthew The Bible
Medium
Scripture
Genre
Religious literature
Language
Greek
Time
60 60s 1st century
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (Matthew 6:24).

Another quote originally in Greek

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

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More information about this quote
Topic
Philosophy Introspection Self-criticism Self-knowledge Wisdom
Speaker
Socrates

Author

Plato
Source
Apology
Medium
Courtroom speech Speech
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.