Ars Longa Vita Brevis

Popular latin quote literally meaning "art is long, life is brief", widely used by Roman writers and orators, including Horace and Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC -AD 65 who famously used it in De Brevitate Vitae), but generally attributed to Hippocrates (460–370 B.C.) the Greek physician, speaking of medical practice:

"Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult."

A famous poem of Chaucer begins by alluding to this sentiment:

"The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne, Th'assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge, The dredful joye..." -- Geoffrey Chaucer, 1382, "The Parliament of Fowls"

The names of LazarusLong's two pack mules.

Perhaps less significantly, the notion that some fields of human endeavour are too vast to be mastered in one standard lifetime. The original saying applies to the medical art; it may or may not be relevant to the art of programming. The implication is that the only way to achieve progress is to carefully collect knowledge about our craft and respectfully pass it on to the next generation. (See SecondGenerationProgrammer.)

"The work is long, the life is short."

In the Renaissance, as human knowledge (known to “Western” culture) was rapidly expanding, a wealthy person could obtain “all human knowledge,” and pretty much learn all of it. But once the amount of knowledge passes a certain boundary, it’s no longer possible for one person to master it all, we enter the realm where specialization is required to be able to contribute and expand the body of knowledge. Thus, the age of the “Renaissance Man” -- a person who was a master of all studies, quickly passed.

So, being a SecondGenerationProgrammer doesn't help -- we expand the field of knowledge so fast that no one person can master it all any more, even if their parents taught them young. -- JeffGrigg

I believe Chaucer was quoting Hippocrates (460–370 B.C.) the Greek physician speaking of medical practice:

"Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult."

Not quite. It's true that "ars longa vita brevis" is attributed to Hippocrates. Well, the original was in Greek, but it became a popular aphorism in Latin, used by Horace, Seneca and others. But Chaucer isn't just quoting; that's the beginning of a long poem by Chaucer. Nor is Chaucer talking about the same subject that Hippocrates was.

Not quite quoting is true, but alluding to? As for not talking about the same subject, ArsLongaVitaBrevis has come to mean in the art world, "Life is short, but Art endures"

It has come to mean many things to many people in many realms, and that was true even in the time of Seneca. It is a good general sentiment that can be applied to a multitude of situations. In particular, every single one of the definitions of "art" are often implied, not just the "fine art" meaning. E.g. craft, vocation, technique, etc. None are incorrect applications.

But what I meant was that Hippocrates was talking about medicine (I'm pretty sure), where Chaucer was writing a poem about a dream and love and referring to a book he read; like the Romans using their Latin translation of the original Greek, Chaucer adapated the cliche to his own purposes. As we continue to do today.

Yes, yes. But what I meant was that this page begins with the line from Chaucer, as if ArsLongaVitaBrevis belongs to him. The page should probably begin by quoting Hippocrates since Chaucer was likely adapting the aphorism that is ultimately attributable to the earlier source.

Oh! Sure, but when I added the Chaucer quote, the topmost line on the page was a reference to Lazarus Long's pack mules. (And didn't even mention that the book in question was "Time Enough for Love". :-) So I wasn't terribly concerned about lowering the quality of the page by adding Chaucer at the top. ;-) Anyway I will do the mild refactor you indicate.

So many pedestrians, so little time.

So many cupcakes, so little time.

So many [gender plural], so little time.

So many [*], so little time.

It seems this sentiment survives even in the common vernacular.

So much time, so little to do. Wait. Strike that. Reverse it <with swirling hand motions>. Thank you. -- Willy Wonka as interpreted by Gene Wilder

Perhaps Seneca (in De Brevitate Vitae), as a Stoic, was suggesting that it is difficult for one person's life to have meaning because it is only one life, but that art outlives the creator ... I dunno ...