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All things are in perpetual flux and fleeting.

All things are in perpetual flux and fleeting.
Traditional proverb

In print by 1893 AD · industrial

Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.

Meaning in plain English

Things continually change and pass away in the saying’s broad picture of life. It encourages awareness that a present condition need not last, without making change a guarantee of improvement or a reason to abandon commitments.

What the words are saying

Flux suggests movement rather than a fixed state, and fleeting adds the sense that moments or conditions do not remain indefinitely. The sentence can help someone hold a present success or difficulty with perspective. A useful response may be to notice what needs attention now instead of assuming circumstances are permanent. The statement is sweeping, and different things change at different rates. Some arrangements require sustained care precisely because they do not alter easily. Read the proverb as an invitation to attend to change and impermanence, not as evidence that a particular obstacle will disappear without action.

Everyday example

A community group revisits an old timetable after members’ circumstances have changed.

When to use it

Use it when a present arrangement is being treated as permanent.

What it does not mean

Change can be slow or unwelcome and does not guarantee improvement.

Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Traditional proverb
Attribution: traditional
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
In print by 1893 AD · industrial
In print by 1893: recorded in Dictionary of Quotations (1893). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)

Printed citation: Pr. · page_010

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.