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.
Tempus vincit omnia. (Time conquers everything.)[11]
Vidi nihil permanere sub sole. (I have seen that nothing under the sun endures.)[11][15]
Virtue
Dum tempus habemus operemur bonum. (While we have time, let us do good.)[11]
Omnes æquales sola virtute discrepantes. (All [hours] are the same; they are distinguished only by virtue.)[11]
Living
Horace's Dona præsentis cape lætus horæ ac linque severe on the Villa Vizcaya, Miami, FloridaVita in motu on one of the sundials (right) at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England
Amicis qualibet hora. (Any hour for my friends.)[11]
Dona præsentis cape lætus horæ [ac linque severe]. (Take the gifts of this hour joyfully [and leave them sternly].)[11][16]
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