Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“Life is brief, and you might pass away before I had finished.”
- Date
- 1889
- Local voice
- Fictional narrator · J. (first-person narrator)
Meaning of “Life is brief, and you might pass away…”
The narrator uses mortality to excuse not listing his countless imagined diseases, turning a serious phrase about short life into an absurdly practical time-saving joke.
Where does it come from?
Three Men in a Boat, Chapter I; spoken by the narrator to his doctor before he explains the one ailment he believes he does not have.
Why the local voice matters
Three Men in a Boat, Chapter I; spoken by the narrator to his doctor before he explains the one ailment he believes he does not have.
