Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

Time is very slow for those who wait, very fast for those who are scared, very long for those who lament, very short for those who celebrate, but for those who love, time is eternal

Not William Shakespeare — a garbled Henry van Dyke poem Henry van Dyke 1852–1933 · American clergyman, poet & diplomat
Disputed Free to reuse

Shakespeare never wrote this. The lines are a reworded version of Henry van Dyke’s short poem “Time Is,” composed as a sundial inscription and first printed in 1901. Van Dyke’s original reads “too slow … too swift … too long … too short … but for those who love, Time is Eternity”; the Shakespeare-credited version swaps in “scared,” “lament” and “celebrate” and appeared online by 2013. According to Quote Investigator ↗, there is no support for the Shakespeare attribution.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Time is very slow for those who wait, very fast for those who are scared, very long for those who lament, very short for those who celebrate, but for those who love, time is eternal” Time is / Too Slow for those who Wait, / Too Swift for those who Fear, / Too Long for those who Grieve, / Too Short for those who Rejoice; / But for those who Love, / Time is Eternity. —Henry van Dyke, "Time Is" (first printed 1901). NOT Shakespeare — the "very slow… very fast… scared… lament… celebrate… eternal" version is a later corruption misattributed to Shakespeare.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to William Shakespeare. Use the credit shown above instead.

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In context

Evoking the world of Henry van Dyke — American clergyman, poet & diplomat. Theme: "Time is very slow for those who wait, very fast for those who are scared, very long for those who lament, very short for those who celebrate, but for those who love, time is eternal". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Time is very slow for those who wait, very fast for those who are scared, very long for those who lament, very short for those who celebrate, but for those who love, time is eternal". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The real source

Work
“Time Is” (sundial inscription for the Trask estate)
Author
Henry van Dyke (1852–1933)
First printed
1901, in Alice Morse Earle’s Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth
Collected
van Dyke’s Music and Other Poems (1904)

Time is
Too Slow for those who Wait,
Too Swift for those who Fear,
Too Long for those who Grieve,
Too Short for those who Rejoice;
But for those who Love,
Time is Eternity.

Van Dyke’s original. The widely circulated “Shakespeare” version rewrites “Fear” as “scared,” “Grieve” as “lament,” “Rejoice” as “celebrate,” and “Eternity” as “eternal.” A variant of van Dyke’s own text ends “Time is not.”

Quote Investigator: origin of “Time Is Too Slow for Those Who Wait”

How we know

  • Quote Investigator ↗ traces the lines to Henry van Dyke, first printed in 1901 in Alice Morse Earle’s Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth, and finds no support for the Shakespeare attribution.
  • The poem “Time Is” is published under van Dyke’s name, ending “But for those who Love, / Time is” either “Eternity” or “not” — see the text at American Literature ↗.
  • On the Folger Shakespeare Library ↗ post on misattributed quotes, a reader flags the “time is eternal” line as “a botched version” of Henry van Dyke.
Public domain

Van Dyke’s poem “Time Is” was first printed in 1901 and collected in 1904 — both well before 1931 — so the underlying text is in the public domain in the United States. The specific “Shakespeare” wording is simply a later, uncredited corruption of that public-domain poem.

Fact-check

Often misattributed

This is one of the internet’s many “Shakespeare” quotes that Shakespeare had nothing to do with. The thought — and nearly all the words — belong to Henry van Dyke.

William Shakespeare Misattributed

The lines appear nowhere in Shakespeare’s plays or poems; the vocabulary (“scared,” “lament,” “celebrate”) is modern. Quote Investigator ↗ finds no evidence for the Shakespeare credit, which spread online by 2013.

Henry van Dyke Paraphrased

Van Dyke wrote “too slow … too swift … too long … too short … but for those who love, Time is Eternity.” The circulating version replaces “fear/grieve/rejoice” with “scared/lament/celebrate” and “Eternity” with “eternal” — a garble, not a quotation.

The real author is Henry van Dyke, whose sundial poem “Time Is” was in print by 1901 ↗ — not William Shakespeare.

Context

Why it resonates

Van Dyke’s lines were composed for a sundial — an object whose whole purpose is to mark time — and they turn that function into a meditation on how differently time feels depending on our state of mind. The final turn, that for lovers time becomes eternity, is what made the poem endure.

The verse gained fresh fame when it was read at the 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, which helped push it into wide circulation — and, as often happens with a beloved line, some reposters eventually pinned it on Shakespeare.

But for those who Love, Time is Eternity.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Time Doubt

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: “Time Is Too Slow for Those Who Wait”quoteinvestigator.com

Traces the poem to Henry van Dyke (first print 1901) and debunks the Shakespeare credit.
“Time Is” full textamericanliterature.com

The poem published under van Dyke’s name.
5 quotes commonly misattributed to Shakespearefolger.edu

Folger Shakespeare Library on Shakespeare misattributions; a reader flags this line as van Dyke’s.
“Time Is” poem analysispoemanalysis.com

Background on the poem, the sundial origin, and its themes.
Henry van Dyke — BrainyQuotebrainyquote.com

Records the correct wording under van Dyke’s name.

The true author

About Henry van Dyke

Henry van Dyke

1852–1933 · American clergyman, poet & diplomat

Henry van Dyke was an American Presbyterian clergyman, Princeton professor, and diplomat who served as U.S. Minister to the Netherlands. He wrote widely read devotional and literary works, including the Christmas tale The Other Wise Man and the hymn text “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” His brief sundial meditation on the subjectivity of time became his most quoted lines — and, decades later, a magnet for false attribution to Shakespeare.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Henry van Dyke, “Time Is” (sundial inscription), first printed in Alice Morse Earle, Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth (New York: Macmillan, 1901); later collected in van Dyke’s Music and Other Poems (1904).

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Time is very slow for those who wait, very fast for those who are scared, very long for those who lament, very short for those who celebrate, but for those who love, time is eternal’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/time-is-very-slow-for-those-who-wait-very-fast-for-those

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