Quote by Andreas Gryphius: “The present is like a breath, the past a dream, the future unknown.”

Gryphius reflects on the transient nature of time, emphasizing how quickly the present vanishes and how uncertain the future is. This highlights humanity's fragile existence and the impossibility of grasping time.

Also from 'Es ist alles eitel,' this quote reflects the profound existential anxieties of the Baroque period. The horrors of the Thirty Years' War instilled a deep sense of instability and the fleeting nature of life, which Gryphius articulated with poignant clarity.

German Baroque poet and playwright whose work was shaped by the devastation of the Thirty Years' War. His sonnets are among the finest in the German language, combining intense religious feeling with a preoccupation with transience, death, and the futility of earthly ambition.