List of sundial mottos

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A sundial on a gravestone in Kilbirnie Auld Kirk, Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland. The motto at top reads,
"Life is but a passing shadow, the shadow of a bird on the wing." Detail of Sundial at Kilbirnie Kirk.JPG
A sundial on a gravestone in Kilbirnie Auld Kirk, Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland. The motto at top reads,
"Life is but a passing shadow, the shadow of a bird on the wing."

Many sundials bear a motto [a] to reflect the sentiments of its maker or owner.

Contents

English mottos

Latin mottos

Time flies

Make use of time

Human mortality

Martial's Pereunt et Imputantur on St Buryan's parish church, Cornwall StBuryan Sundial.jpg
Martial's Pereunt et Imputantur on St Buryan's parish church, Cornwall
Horace's Umbra Sumus on Brick Lane Mosque, London "Umbra Sumus" sundial - geograph.org.uk - 321257.jpg
Horace's Umbra Sumus on Brick Lane Mosque, London

Transience

Virtue

Living

Horace's Dona praesentis cape laetus horae ac linque severe on the Villa Vizcaya, Miami, Florida Vizcaya Sun Dial.JPG
Horace's Dona præsentis cape lætus horæ ac linque severe on the Villa Vizcaya, Miami, Florida
Vita in motu on one of the sundials (right) at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England Houghton Hall Norfolk UK 4-face sundial.jpg
Vita in motu on one of the sundials (right) at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England

Humorous

German mottos

References

Notes

  1. The plural of motto may be either mottoes or mottos.

Footnotes

  1. From Robert Browning's poem Rabbi ben Ezra
  2. From Henry van Dyke's Inscription for Katrina's Sun-Dial
  3. From Oliver Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village
  4. 1 2 Waugh, Albert E. (1973). Sundials: their theory and construction. New York: Dover Publications. p. 124. ISBN   0486229475.
  5. From Isaac Watts' hymn Our God, Our Help in Ages Past
  6. File:Morehead_Planetarium_Sundial.JPG
  7. From a sundial at Wallingtons House, Kintbury, Berkshire
  8. Shown at the end of S2E7 of the TV show Dead Like Me
  9. Inscribed on a sundial at Georges River College, Peakhurst and in Hyde Park, Sydney.
  10. From a sundial outside of the United Kingdom Supreme Court in Middlesex Guildhall, Parliament Square, London, England
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Rohr, René R. J. (1996). Sundials : history, theory, and practice. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 127–129. ISBN   0486291391.
  12. "Tempus Fugit Velut Umbra". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  13. Martial, Epigrams , book V, ode xx, line 13
  14. Horace, Odes , Book IV, ode vii, line 16
  15. Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) Chapter 2, verse 11
  16. Horace, Odes, Book III, ode iix, line 27
  17. Probably unique to the William Willett memorial in Petts Wood, England, which shows British Summer Time
  18. Horace, Odes, Book I, ode xxxvii, line 1

Bibliography

Further reading