I just heard this Greek aphorism for the first time, and I love it. In the original Greek, it reads like this:
Ὁ βίος βραχύς,
ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή,
ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξύς,
ἡ δὲ πεῖρα σφαλερή,
ἡ δὲ κρίσις χαλεπή.
Now to me that’s just a bunch of scribbles, so here’s the English translation:
Life is short,
and art long,
opportunity fleeting,
experimentations perilous,
and judgment difficult.
It takes a long time to master an art (or craft), and we don’t have much time in this life. So don’t squander your time; use it wisely.