Time’s Arrow: A Brief History of Sundial Mottos, by Cassidy Gordon

Most everyone on Miami University’s campus is familiar with a sundial. The iconic Tri-Delta Sundial was erected on campus in 1962 by South Quad. It was a gift to the university to commemorate the sorority’s fiftieth anniversary of their chapter on campus. A part of Miami tradition is to rub the turtles for good luck (which you should absolutely not do; those poor turtles have been peed on enough). The Tri-Delta Sundial doesn’t have its own motto, but the inscription of the University’s motto, “Prodesse Quam Conspici,” meaning “to accomplish without being conspicuous,” is fixed on the bronze structure. Miami, however, was not the originator of the sundial, not one bit.

Sourced from Miami University

Sundials were invented in ancient Egypt around 1500 BCE. A simple sundial consists of the gnomon, the fin (or stick), and the dial face; a flat surface with numbers. The gnomon is specifically aligned to the Earth’s axis, with sundials in the Northern Hemisphere facing the geographic points of true north and true south for the Southern Hemisphere. The gnomon reflects a shadow on the dial face, and the shadow moves as the Earth rotates. Meaning sundials can only work in direct sunlight. 

Many sundials have mottos crafted on the face. This trend started in the 16th century in Europe with the Renaissance; a time period that promoted the resurgence and taking back of the Latin language and the Roman idea of “memento mori”, which means “remember you must die.” Some of these mottos are existential in nature, talking about the fleetingness of time and how short life is. Others are reflective or discuss friendship. These mottos make sundials not only ways to tell time, but introspective pieces of culture.

The first time I heard about sundial mottos was while listening to the podcast “S-Town” in JRN 201 (shoutout Professor Reeder). The main subject of the podcast is John McLemore, an antique horologist. 

In one episode, McLemore tells the journalist, Brian Reed, about one motto that sticks out to him: “tedious and brief.” Tedious and brief are antonyms. Tedious meaning “something that is boring or slow because of how long and dull it is” and brief meaning “short.” The two together should not make any sense. However, we find rationale in it.

I named the title of this article “Time’s Arrow” after the BoJack Horseman episode of the same name. In the episode, BoJack’s grandfather tells his family that “time’s arrow neither stands still nor reverses; it merely marches forward.” Time is something that we value so much, but something we never get back. It keeps moving, things change, all you can do is keep living your life. Sundial mottos encapture this idea perfectly.

Here is a list of some of my favorite sundial mottos, mostly taken from “A Book of Sundial Mottos” by Alfred H. Hyatt, published in 1903.

Take the gifts of this hour.

Set out at leisure, proceed with haste.

The hours vanish, yet are on record.

Time flies.

You cannot keep it, nor lose it.

Let others tell of storms and showers, I’ll only count your sunny hours.

Through silence, I speak.

Time wasted is existence, used is life.

There is a season for everything.

It is later than you think.

I go and come everyday, but thou shalt go without returning.

Short the day, and great the work.