He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times.
Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) was a German poet, playwright and historian, and with Goethe the central figure of Weimar Classicism. He trained as a military doctor and deserted the service in order to write. His Ode to Joy was later set to music in the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
About this theme: Time
Time is the one theme here where every author writes from the same position — none of them had more of it than they had. Seneca devoted an essay to it, and his central claim is uncomfortable: we are not given a short life, we spend it in a way that makes it seem short.
More by Friedrich Schiller
- Keep true to the dreams of your youth.
- Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.
- It is not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.
- The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.
- Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
More on Time
- Lost time is never found again.— Benjamin Franklin
- The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.— Chinese Proverb
- It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.— Seneca
- The life given us by nature is short, but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.— Cicero
- The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.— Nikola Tesla