I love sundials not because of their ability to track time, but because of the centuries-old tradition of inscribing mottos on them. Whenever people look at them to check the time, they are reminded of death. Here are some famous sundials and their mottos:
- “Man is a vanity, his days are like a shadow that passes as the hour.”
- “Think on death and ready be.”
- “Time is the Devourer of things.”
- “Time flies, man must die insensibly without feeling.”
- “Life is aging, go about your business.”
- “One of ours will be your last.”
- “Time flies, death comes.”
- “Without the sun I fall silent.”