Time and tide wait for no man.
Meaning of the quote
The quote means that time and the natural cycles of the world (like the tides) will not slow down or wait for anyone. They just keep moving forward, no matter what. This suggests that we need to take advantage of the time we have and not let it slip away, because it won't wait for us.
About Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. He was a pioneer in the use of Middle English and is considered the “father of English literature.” Chaucer also had a diverse career, serving as a philosopher, astronomer, bureaucrat, and member of parliament.
More quotes from Geoffrey Chaucer
Women desire six things: They want their husbands to be brave, wise, rich, generous, obedient to wife, and lively in bed.
14th century English poet and author
Filth and old age, I’m sure you will agree, are powerful wardens upon chastity.
14th century English poet and author
Murder will out, this my conclusion.
14th century English poet and author
Love is blind.
14th century English poet and author
Forbid us something, and that thing we desire.
14th century English poet and author
People can die of mere imagination.
14th century English poet and author
The greatest scholars are not usually the wisest people.
14th century English poet and author
By nature, men love newfangledness.
14th century English poet and author
Time and tide wait for no man.
14th century English poet and author
Whoso will pray, he must fast and be clean, And fat his soul, and make his body lean.
14th century English poet and author
First he wrought, and afterward he taught.
14th century English poet and author
And she was fair as is the rose in May.
14th century English poet and author
There’s never a new fashion but it’s old.
14th century English poet and author
Nowhere so busy a man as he than he, and yet he seemed busier than he was.
14th century English poet and author
There’s no workman, whatsoever he be, That may both work well and hastily.
14th century English poet and author
The guilty think all talk is of themselves.
14th century English poet and author
He was as fresh as is the month of May.
14th century English poet and author
We know little of the things for which we pray.
14th century English poet and author
The life so short, the crafts so long to learn.
14th century English poet and author