seize the day

present singular third person seizes the day · participle present seizing the day · participle past seized the day · past seized the day

1. idiomaticTo enjoy the present and not worry about the future; to live for the moment.

   Synonyms: carpe diem, gather rosebuds

2. idiomaticTo make the most of today by achieving fulfillment in a philosophical or spiritual sense.
3. idiomaticTo attack the day's efforts with vigor and purpose.

   1 more example

   IN toasting the beginning of a new relationship between China and the United States in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing twenty years ago, I quoted from a poem in which Mao Zedong exhorted his followers to work for the victory of communism: "So many deeds cry out to be done always urgently. The world rolls on. Time passes. Seize the day. Seize the hour." Today, as we celebrate the defeat of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and the defeat of aggression in the Persian Gulf, many deeds remain to be done abroad and at home. We must seize the moment to win victory for peace and freedom in the world.

   1992, Richard Nixon, “The Real World”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 13–14