art is long, life is short

proverb

Art is more enduring than an individual's lifetime.

OriginLatin ars longa, vīta brevis →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proverb

alternative life is short, art is long · alternative life is temporary, art is forever · alternative life is short

  1. Art is more enduring than an individual's lifetime.

    In the side of a storage structure, I note a surely-not-officially sanctioned graffiti slogan, "Art is Long, Life is Short".

    August 24, 2017, Passport Magazine, Hong Kong
    2 more examples

    Remembrance of Things Past Marc Lida's Proust Watercolors Jonathan Weinberg "Art is long, life is short," or so we are told.

    2002, Edmund White, Loss Within Loss: Artists in the Age of AIDS

    Alas! art is long and life is short! My friends would comfort me with the idea of a name, they say I shall leave behind me; and they tell me I have lived long enough to nature and to glory .

    2011, Benjamin Franklin with John Bigelow, The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Written by Himself

Origin

  1. Latinars longa, vīta brevis
  2. Englishart is long, life is short

Calque of Latin ars longa, vīta brevis

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ὁ βίος βραχύς ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή
  • ὁ βίος βραχύς ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή (ho bíos brakhús hē dè tékhnē makrḗ)art is more enduring than life
Finnish taide pitkä, elämä lyhyt
  • taide pitkä, elämä lyhytart is more enduring than life
Latin ars longa, vīta brevis, vita brevis, ars longa
  • ars longa, vīta brevisart is more enduring than life
  • vita brevis, ars longaart is more enduring than life
Russian жизнь коротка́, иску́сство ве́чно
  • жизнь коротка́, иску́сство ве́чно (žiznʹ korotká, iskússtvo véčno)art is more enduring than life
Cite this entry
APA

art is long, life is short. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/art%20is%20long%2C%20life%20is%20short

MLA

“art is long, life is short.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/art%20is%20long%2C%20life%20is%20short. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “art is long, life is short,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/art%20is%20long%2C%20life%20is%20short.

Source: art is long, life is short on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.