in
Redu, Belgium
Tempus fugit is typically employed as an admonition against sloth and procrastination (cf.
carpe diem) rather than an argument for licentiousness (cf. "
gather ye rosebuds while ye may"); the English form is often merely descriptive: "time flies like the wind", "time flies when you're having fun". The phrase is a common
motto, particularly
on sundials and clocks. It also has been used on
gravestones. Some writers have attempted rebuttals: "Time goes, you say? Ah, no! alas, time stays, we go." by Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921)."Hêd Amser! / Meddi Na! / Erys Amser / Dyn Â" on sundial at Univ of Bangor, North Wales. says the sundial was commissioned by Sir William Henry Preece, and offers an English equivalent: "Time flies, thou sayest – Nay! Man flies; Time still doth stay." Another English version is: "Time Flies, Say Not So: Time Remains,'Tis Man Must Go."
Bud Powell's composition "
Tempus Fugue-it" is a pun on the phrase. ==In the
Georgics==