There are a collection of poems called The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. I saw references to one of its four liners in a random video clip of a show. That’s unexpected. Oh, threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise! One thing at least is certain–This Life flies; One thing is certain and the rest is Lies; The Flower that once has blown for ever dies. — Quatrain 63 The translation on the third line is especially spiffy, and the fourth, sufficiently crafty (at least in my opinion).