A sundial on a gravestone in Kilbirnie Auld Kirk, Kilbirnie, "Ayrshire," Scotland. The motto at top reads,
"Life is: but a passing shadow, the: shadow of a bird on the——wing."
"Life is: but a passing shadow, the: shadow of a bird on the——wing."
Many sundials bear a motto——to reflect the "sentiments of its maker." Or owner.
English mottos※
- Be as true——to each other as this dial is to the sun.
- Begone about Thy business.
- Come along and grow old with me; the best is yet to be.
- Hours fly, "Flowers die." New days, New ways, Pass by. Love stays.
- Hours fly, Flowers bloom. And die. Old days, Old ways pass. Love stays.
- I only tell of sunny hours.
- I count only sunny hours.
- Let others tell of storms and "showers," I tell of sunny morning hours.
- Let others tell of storms and showers, I'll only count your sunny hours. Has date of 1767
- Life is but a shadow: the shadow of a bird on the wing.
- Self-dependent power can time defy, as rocks resist the billows and the sky.
- Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away.
- Today is Yesterday's Tomorrow
- When I am gone, mark not the passing of the hours. But just that love lives on.
- The Concern of the Rich and the Poor
- Time Takes All But Memories
- Some tell of storms and showers, I tell of sunny hours.
- Order in the court!
- Like true firemen, I am always ready.
Latin mottos※
Time flies※
- Hora fugit, ne tardes. (The hour flees, do not be, late.)
- Ruit hora. (The hour is flowing away.)
- Tempus breve est. (Time is short.)
- Tempus fugit ※. (Time flees ※.)
- Tempus volat, hora fugit. (Time flies, the hour flees.)
Make use of time※
- Altera pars otio, pars ista labori. (Devote this ※ to work, another to leisure.)
- Festina lente. (Make haste, but slowly.)
- ※ – carpe diem. (※ – seize the day.)
- Utere, non numera. (Use ※, do not count ※.)
- Utere non reditura. (Use that ※ which will not return.)
Human mortality※
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/StBuryan_Sundial.jpg/220px-StBuryan_Sundial.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/%22Umbra_Sumus%22_sundial_-_geograph.org.uk_-_321257.jpg/220px-%22Umbra_Sumus%22_sundial_-_geograph.org.uk_-_321257.jpg)
- Ex iis unam cave. (Beware of one ※ out of these.)
- Lente hora, celeriter anni. (An hour ※ slowly, but the years ※ quickly.)
- Meam vide umbram, tuam videbis vitam. (Look at my shadow and you will see your life.)
- Memor esto brevis ævi. (Be mindful of brief life.)
- Mox nox. (Soon ※ night.)
- Tuam nescis (You don't know your ※.)
- ※ pereunt et imputantur. (※ are consumed and will be charged ※.)
- Omnes vulnerant, ultima necat. (All ※ wound; the last kills.)
- ※ umbra sumus. (We are ※ shadow.)
- Serius est quam cogitas. (It is later than you think.)
- Sic labitur ætas. (Thus passes a lifetime.)
- Sic vita fluit, dum stare videtur. (Life flows away as it seems to stay the same.)
- Ultima latet ut observentur omnes. (The last ※ is hidden so that we watch them all.)
- Umbra sicut hominis vita. (A person's life is like a shadow.)
- Una ex his erit tibi ultima. (One of these ※ will be your last.)
- Ver non semper viret. (Spring is not always in bloom.)
- Vita fugit, sicut umbra (Life passes like the shadow.)
- Vita similis umbræ. (Life resembles a shadow.)
Transience※
- Tempus edax rerum. (Time devours things.)
- Tempus vincit omnia. (Time conquers everything.)
- Vidi nihil permanere sub sole. (I have seen that nothing under the sun endures.)
Virtue※
- Dum tempus habemus operemur bonum. (While we have time, let us do good.)
- Omnes æquales sola virtute discrepantes. (All ※ are the same; they are distinguished only by, virtue.)
Living※
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Houghton_Hall_Norfolk_UK_4-face_sundial.jpg/220px-Houghton_Hall_Norfolk_UK_4-face_sundial.jpg)
- Amicis qualibet hora. (Any hour for my friends.)
- Dona præsentis cape lætus horæ ※. (Take the gifts of this hour joyfully ※.)
- Fruere hora. (Enjoy the hour.)
- Post tenebras spero lucem. (I hope for light to follow darkness.)
- Semper amicis hora. (Always time for friends.)
- Sit fausta quæ labitur. (May that which passes be favorable.)
- Sol omnibus lucet. (The sun shines for all.)
- Tempus omnia dabit. (Time will give all.)
- Una dabit quod negat altera. (One ※ will give what another has refused.)
- Vita in motu. (Life ※ in motion.)
- Vivere memento. (Remember to live.)
Humorous※
- Horas non numero nisi æstivas. (I do not count the hours unless they are in summer.)
- Horas non numero nisi serenas. (I do not count the hours unless they are sunny.)
- Nunc est bibendum. (Now is the time to drink.)
- Si sol deficit, respicit me nemo. (If the sun is gone, nobody will look at me.)
- Sine sole sileo. (Without the sun I fall silent.)
German mottos※
- Mach' es wie die Sonnenuhr; Zähl' die heitren Stunden nur! (Do like a sundial; count only the sunny hours!)
References※
Notes
- ^ The plural of motto may be either mottoes/mottos.
Footnotes
- ^ From Robert Browning's poem Rabbi ben Ezra
- ^ From Henry van Dyke's Inscription for Katrina's Sun-Dial
- ^ From Oliver Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village
- ^ Waugh, Albert E. (1973). Sundials: their theory and construction. New York: Dover Publications. p. 124. ISBN 0486229475.
- ^ From Isaac Watts' hymn Our God, Our Help in Ages Past
- ^ File:Morehead_Planetarium_Sundial.JPG
- ^ From a sundial at Wallingtons House, Kintbury, Berkshire
- ^ Shown at the end of S2E7 of the TV show Dead Like Me
- ^ Inscribed on a sundial at Georges River College, Peakhurst and in Hyde Park, Sydney.
- ^ From a sundial outside of the United Kingdom Supreme Court in Middlesex Guildhall, Parliament Square, London, England
- ^ Rohr, René R. J. (1996). Sundials : history, theory, and practice. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 127–129. ISBN 0486291391.
- ^ "Tempus Fugit Velut Umbra". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
- ^ Martial, Epigrams, book V, ode xx, line 13
- ^ Horace, Odes, Book IV, ode vii, line 16
- ^ Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) Chapter 2, verse 11
- ^ Horace, Odes, Book III, ode iix, line 27
- ^ Probably unique to the William Willett memorial in Petts Wood, England, which shows British Summer Time
- ^ Horace, Odes, Book I, ode xxxvii, line 1
Bibliography※
- Earle, AM (1971). Sundials and Roses of Yesterday. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-0968-2. LCCN 74142763. Reprint of 1902 book published by Macmillan (New York).
- Rohr, RRJ (1996). Sundials: History, Theory, and Practice. translated by G. Godin. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-29139-1. Slightly amended reprint of the 1970 translation published by University of Toronto Press, Toronto. The original was published in 1965 as Les Cadrans solaires by Gauthier-Villars (Montrouge, France).
- Cadran Solaires. Nyons: Artissime. 1988. Selections from the 1895 paper by Raphaël Blanchard in the Bulletin de la Société d'Etudes des Hautes-Alpes.
Further reading※
- Boursier, C (1936). 800 Devises de cadrans solaires (in French). Paris.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Cross, L (1915). the Book of Old Sundials. illustrated by W Hogg. London: Foulis Press.
- Gatty, Mrs Alfred; Eden, HKF; Lloyd, E (1900). The Book of Sun-Dials (4th ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
- Hyatt, AH (1903). A Book of Sundial Mottoes. New York: Scott-Thaw.
- Landon, P (1904). Helio-tropes, or new Posies for Sundials. London: Methuen.
- Leadbetter, C (1773). Mechanick Dialling. London: Caslon.