Ars longa, vita brevis

Ars longa, vita brevis is a Latin translation of an aphorism coming originally from Greek.

The familiar Latin translation ars longa, vita brevis reverses the order of the original lines, but can express the same principle.

[3][4][failed verification] The phrase was used as the title of the dissertation of James Morris Whiton, who, in 1861, was one of the first three men to earn a PhD from an American university.

[5] The late-medieval author Chaucer (c. 1343–1400) observed "The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne" ("The life so short, the craft so long to learn", the first line of the Parlement of Foules).

[6] The first-century CE rabbi Tarfon is quoted as saying "The day is short, the labor vast, the workers are lazy, the reward great, the Master urgent."