Mottoes - Your Favourites

This page contains mottoes sent in by people who would just like to share a motto they made up or just one that is their favourite.

Thank you for taking the time to send in you mottoes!

John Redford

Here's a somewhat dark (so to speak) motto that I've used on some dials:

"I Mark Time, but Time Marketh Thee"

My favorite, though, is one that I'm sure you have already - Whittier's Inscription On a Sundial:

With warning hand I mark Time's rapid flight
From life's glad morning to its solemn night;
Yet, through the dear God's love, I also show
There's Light above me by the Shade below.

Mac Oglesby

In recent years the motto I've used on my sundials has been,

"Sine Lumine Nulla Umbra,"

which I translate as,

"No Shadow Without Light."

A less literal translation might be,

"You do not die unless you have lived."

 Or, more succinctly,

"No death without life."