Life’s too short to paint a kiss
So sing a picture, paint a song
Take it home and bang your gong
Cause life is an ill cast comedy for fools -lyrics from “Symphony for Group and Orchestra” by Lee Jackson and band The Nice
O gentlemen, the time of life is short;
To spend that shortness basely were too long
If life did ride upon a dial’s point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour.
An if we live, we live to tread on kings;
If die, brave death, when princes die with us.
-Hotspur in William Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part 1”
“Ars longa, vita brevis” roughly translated means “Art is long, life is short.” (Another translation taken from the ancient physician Hippocrates, is “Skillfulness takes time and life is short.)
Similar to “Memento Mori”, meditating on “Ars longa, vita brevis” should inspire and motivate us to make our art.
Why?
Because making art, especially if you’re trying for something great, is worth it. Unlike our “brief candle”, our short time on this earth, our art can last.
So get going.
What are you waiting for?
If not now, when?
“Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.”
Go Make Your Art.
The Vs. Studio Blog 