--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oh seize the instant time; you never will…" description: "\"Oh seize the instant time; you never will With water once passed by impel the mill.\" — Richard Chenevix Trench" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/richard-chenevix-trench-23976_instant_oh-seize-the-instant-time-you-never-will_2176340.jpg" --- # Oh seize the instant time; you never will With water once… ![“Oh seize the instant time; you never will With water once passed by impel the mill.” quote by Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/richard-chenevix-trench-23976_instant_oh-seize-the-instant-time-you-never-will_2176340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/richard-chenevix-trench-23976_instant_oh-seize-the-instant-time-you-never-will_2176340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/richard-chenevix-trench-23976_instant_oh-seize-the-instant-time-you-never-will_2176340.jpg) > “Oh seize the instant time; you never will With water once passed by impel the mill.” [Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time passes like water; seize moments before they slip away, as a mill cannot be driven by water already gone. **In simple terms:** Act now before opportunities disappear. Key Takeaway Take immediate action; don't delay. Themes time urgency action Mood urgent motivational Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - personal decisions - business deadlines - creative projects - emergency responses Key Concepts impermanence momentum opportunity Questions to Reflect On - What moment are you letting slip? - How can you create habits to act promptly? A Different Perspective Future opportunities may be limited by over‑analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [For, how else to seize such an instant? How to shout out into the empty air just the right words, and on cue? Frame…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/for-how-else-to-seize-such-an-instant-how-to-shout-out-into-the-empty/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [The present offers itself to our touch for only an instant of time and then eludes the senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/the-present-offers-itself-to-our-touch-for-only-an-instant-of-time/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Every instant of time... is a pinprick of eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/every-instant-of-time-is-a-pinprick-of-eternity/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [In time and with water, everything changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/in-time-and-with-water-everything-changes/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [What is time to a water rat? What is time to the river? Only we humans obsess over days and minutes, hours and seasons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-time-to-a-water-rat-what-is-time-to-the-river-only-we-humans/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Time is the water in which we live, and we breathe it like fish. ... Time pours into us and then pours out again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/time-is-the-water-in-which-we-live-and-we-breathe-it-like-fish-time/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [River is time in water; as it came, still so it flows, yet never is the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barten-holyday/river-is-time-in-water-as-it-came-still-so-it-flows-yet-never-is-the/) Barten Holyday > [“The instant is not in time -- time is in the instant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barbour/the-instant-is-not-in-time-time-is-in-the-instant/) [John Barbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barbour/) > [There are things that I would say that you could call an instant of time; or better, a now. As we live we seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barbour/there-are-things-that-i-would-say-that-you-could-call-an-instant-of/) [Julian Barbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barbour/) > [Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-lange/photography-takes-an-instant-out-of-time-altering-life-by-holding-it/) [Dorothea Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-lange/) > [Perhaps this very instant is your time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/perhaps-this-very-instant-is-your-time/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [“Nothing is predetermined, it is determined, or was determined, or will be determined. 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