Art is long, life short; judgment difficult, opportunity transient.
• Bk. VII, Ch. 9
• Cf. Hippocrates, Ars longa vita brevis, Aphorisms 1:1
• Bk. VII, Ch. 9
• Cf. Hippocrates, Ars longa vita brevis, Aphorisms 1:1
“
Die Kunst ist lang, das Leben kurz, das Urteil schwierig, die Gelegenheit flüchtig.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Die Kunst ist lang, das Leben kurz, das Urteil schwierig, die Gelegenheit flüchtig." in the context of "Art is long, life short; judgment difficult, opportunity transient.
• Bk. VII, Ch. 9
• Cf. Hippocrates, Ars longa vita brevis, Aphorisms 1:1" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" (Quotes, Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre (Apprenticeship) (1786–1830))
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it,