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About this quote

What does it mean?
Human achievements are fleeting; love, art, and ambition are temporary and often dissolve.
In plain terms
What we value lasts only a short time, and love and art can fade.
What can you take from it?
Recognize the transience of fame and desire.

Where it applies

  • reflecting on career
  • ending a relationship

Putting it to work

  • focus on lasting values
  • cultivate inner satisfaction

Questions to consider

  • What truly lasts for me?
  • How do I find meaning beyond fleeting achievements?

Another view

Not all things are truly temporary; some endure.

More from William Butler Yeats

  1. Odour of blood when Christ was slain Made all platonic tolerance vain And vain all Doric discipline.

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  2. Whatever flames upon the night Man's own resinous heart has fed.

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  3. Whether they knew or not, Goldsmith and Burke, Swift and the Bishop of Cloyne All hated Whiggery; but what is Whiggery? A levelling, rancorous, rational sort o…

    Permalink to quote #126

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