In a court of law, when someone is called to testify, they are instructed to raise their right hand, place their left hand on the Bible, and answer the question, “do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?”. That’s in court, but what about in everyday life? Unfortunately today, the truth is not valued as much as it should be.

“But life is short, and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.” – Bible or Not?

It is clear that if you believe in the Bible, then you believe that the truth goes a long way. Even the example above about testifying in court has it origin from the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments: thou shalt not bear false witness, or to use the positive, thou shalt tell the truth. This is also the basis of Jesus’ admonition, “let your yea be yea and your nay be nay“, that we would speak the truth. And didn’t the Apostle Paul tell us to speaks the truth? And more than that: in Ephesians 4:15 he tells us to speak the truth in love.

Yes, the Bible is filled with verses and quotes about speaking the truth. But today’s truth quote is not one of them. It was spoken by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). Being well-studied in the philosophy of philosophers such as Plato and Kant, Schopenhauer was considered a pessimist about the human condition, and explored and wrote about ways to be liberated from such a painful existence. Here is a good reference to learn more about Arthur Schopenhauer

So his view recognized the brevity of life, and that truth goes a long way in making the most out of life. You might also be interested in other life is short quotes.

A couple of weeks ago there was a post about how life is a walking shadow highlighting the brevity of life. Some people live for only a short time, while others live to a ripe old age. All in all though, compared to eternity, our time here is very short and we only get to do it once. I was reminded of this fact this morning when I went to the gym to learn that a man had died of a heart attack while swimming. A friend of mine was there at the time, and helped pull the man out of the pool, but it was too late. The man was 85 years old, and seemingly lived a full life, God bless him.

“We only have one life to live.” – Anonymous

Whether we live for only a few years, or to be 100, the time we have is still relatively short. We only have one life to live, so let’s be sure we make it count. We can find this idea in the Bible in the books of James and Ephesians.

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away [life is short].” – James 4:14 NKJV

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity [make it count], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” – Ephesians 5:15-17 NIV

Life is short, and we only have one life to live, so let’s make it count.

I went to a funeral this week, which as you would expect, got me to thinking about the brevity of life. There are so many life is short quotes out there! Some from the Bible…and some Not. Can you tell which of the following quotes are from the Bible?

DON’T SCROLL DOWN YET! See if you can get these right before looking at the answers are below.
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OK, here are the answers and sources to today’s life is short quotes.

“Life is but a walking shadow”. – William Shakespeare – Macbeth

“As for man, his days are like grass”. – Psalm 103:15 NKJV

“Life is but a fleeting moment”. – Anonymous

“Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back”. – Gladiator Movie – 2000

“Surely every man is a mere breath”. – Psalm 39:11 NAS

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away”. – James 4:14 NKJV

Bonus quote! (how silly is that?)

“Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson