Life's Brief Candle

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow,
a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more:
it is a tale
Told by an idiot,
full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing

I heard a teacher commenting on the above poem, Life's Brief Candle from Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Such poem to teach school children! Pah! Such pessimistic thoughts to be planted in minds so young and vulnerable! Maybe we should take it from George Bernard Shaw: Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations. And maybe from mummy too: Since life's such a brief candle, why not put some meanings into our lives lest it become worthless and redundant. Hold up your candles and together, we will light up the world.

For another beautiful candle, check this What they did to reach enlightenment.