Life is short. You know that. Everyone knows that. It’s on mugs. It’s on tea towels in your nan’s kitchen.
And yet here you are, putting off the thing again.
Here’s the truth nobody puts on a tea towel: nobody gets out alive. Not you, not me, not the bloke with the six-pack and the podcast. The clock is running whether you’re watching it or not.
So this isn’t a list of pretty words to scroll past. It’s 50 life is short quotes, from dead philosophers, film characters and a few people who’ve been punched in the face by life, plus some of my own. Read them. Pick one. Then stop fucking about and go do something with the day.
The Old Boys Got There First: Stoic Life Is Short Quotes
Two thousand years ago people were already wasting their lives. The Stoics wrote it down so we’d have no excuse.
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” – Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
The killer line. Time isn’t the problem. You are.
“Life is long if you know how to use it.” – Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
Same man, flip side. Use it and it’s plenty.
“While we are postponing, life speeds by.” – Seneca, Letters to Lucilius (Letter 1)
“Next Monday” has been ruining lives since Roman times.
“Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.” – Seneca, Letters to Lucilius (Letter 101)
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Written by a Roman emperor. If he could remember he was going to die, so can you.
“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“Life is short, art is long.” – Hippocrates (Ars longa, vita brevis)
The original “life is short” quote. A doctor said it. Doctors know.
“Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.” – Horace, Odes (Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero)
Everyone remembers “carpe diem”. Nobody remembers the second half, which is the bit that matters.
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1746)
Punch in the Face Originals
My own. Short, because life is.
“Nobody gets out alive.” – Punch in the Face
Not a threat. A deadline. Read the full rant: Nobody Gets Out Alive.
“You only get one ticket to the gun show.” – Punch in the Face
No re-entry. No refunds. Enjoy the show.
“Time is undefeated.” – Punch in the Face
It’s beaten every champion who ever lived. It’ll beat you too. The only question is how many rounds you give it.
“Nobody is coming to save you.” – Punch in the Face
No knight. No lottery win. No perfect Monday. It’s you or nobody.
Life Is Too Short Quotes (For When You Need a Kick)
“Life is too short” is the phrase people Google when they’re sick of something. Good. Be sick of it.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement speech (2005)
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” – Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement speech (2005)
Memento mori, from a man in a black polo neck.
“Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.” – Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
He wrote it while dying of cancer. Sit with that.
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” – Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
“Life is too short to drink bad wine.” – Unknown
Fair. Also applies to bad jobs, bad mates and bad telly.
“Life is too short to wait.” – Unknown
“Life is too short to be little.” – Benjamin Disraeli (usually sourced to his novel Coningsby, 1844)
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee (borrowing from Benjamin Franklin above)
Life Moves Fast: Quotes From Films and Books
Some of the best life is short quotes came out of the mouths of made-up people. Doesn’t make them less true.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” – Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption (from Stephen King’s novella)
Two options. Pick one.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – Gandalf, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” – Albus Dumbledore, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” – Rocky Balboa, Rocky Balboa (2006)
“No one here gets out alive.” – Jim Morrison, The Doors, “Five to One” (1968)
Morrison said it first in a song. I’m saying it louder.
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
Look at your last Tuesday. That’s your life, on repeat.
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day”
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately… and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Existing is easy. Living takes effort.
“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.” – Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan
“Learn how to die, and you learn how to live.” – Morrie Schwartz, in Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie
Punched in the Mouth: Fighters on Time and Life
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson
Life will punch you. Plan for it, then get back up anyway.
“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Often attributed to Muhammad Ali (no confirmed source)
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” – Commonly attributed to Muhammad Ali
Life Is Short, So Stop Overthinking It
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon, “Beautiful Boy” (1980) (the line appeared earlier, from cartoonist Allen Saunders in 1957)
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a ride!’” – Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway
Skid in broadside. Best life advice on this page.
“We are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different.” – Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
Yes, a famous novelist said that. Life’s short. Have a laugh.
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.” – Paulo Coelho (widely attributed)
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Often credited to Mark Twain, but there’s no proof he said it. Source: unknown.
Doesn’t matter who said it. It’s still true.
“How did it get so late so soon?” – Often credited to Dr. Seuss; the source is unconfirmed.
Short Ones for Your Phone Screen
No author needed. Steal them.
“Life is short. Do the thing.” – Unknown
“Life is too short for ‘one day’.” – Unknown
“Someday is not a day of the week.” – Unknown
“Life is short. Eat the cake.” – Unknown
“Life is too short to hold grudges.” – Unknown
“You don’t have forever. Act like it.” – Unknown
“Time is undefeated.” – Punch in the Face (yes, again. It’s that important.)
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10 printable quote cards and 5 phone wallpapers with the lines on this page that hit hardest. Stick them on the fridge, the mirror, your lock screen. Anywhere you’ll see them when you’re about to waste another day.
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So What Are You Going to Do About It?
Reading quotes feels productive. It isn’t. It’s a nice warm bath for your brain.
The point of every line above is the same: you’re going to die, so don’t waste the bit before it. Ring the person. Book the trip. Start the thing. Quit the job that’s eating you alive. Go to the gym.
You only get one ticket to the gun show. Stop sitting in the car park.
Want more? Go to the full Quotes page, or read Nobody Gets Out Alive. That one’s sweary too.
FAQ
What is the most famous “life is short” quote?
Probably Hippocrates’ “Life is short, art is long” (Ars longa, vita brevis). The most useful one is Seneca’s: “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
What does “life is too short” mean?
It means you haven’t got time to waste on things that make you miserable: bad jobs, bad relationships, grudges, endless putting-off. Keep the good stuff. Bin the rest.
Who said “life is short, live it”?
Nobody famous we can verify. Versions of it are everywhere, but the idea goes back to the Stoics and Horace’s “carpe diem”, which means “seize the day”.
How do I actually stop wasting time?
Remember you’re going to die. That’s what the Stoics called memento mori. Pick one thing you keep putting off and do it today, badly if you have to. Nobody is coming to save you, so start.