--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let's take the instant by the forward…" description: "\"Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time Steals ere we can effec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/william-shakespeare-4_decree_let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-to_573788.jpg" --- # Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old… ![“Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time Steals ere we can effect them.” quote by William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/william-shakespeare-4_decree_let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-to_573788.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/william-shakespeare-4_decree_let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-to_573788.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/william-shakespeare-4_decree_let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-to_573788.jpg) > “Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time Steals ere we can effect them.” [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time quietly erodes opportunities before we can act on them. **In simple terms:** Time steals chances. Key Takeaway Act before it's too late. Themes time impermanence action Mood contemplative urgent Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career decisions - health choices - relationship moments Key Concepts ephemerality human frailty Questions to Reflect On - How do you prioritize actions? - What moments have you missed? A Different Perspective May cause anxiety about urgency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I'm looking forward to being old, to be able to accept what I am and become self-sufficient. Mid-forties is a good age and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-vine/i-m-looking-forward-to-being-old-to-be-able-to-accept-what-i-am-and/) [Stella Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-vine/) > [“Time steals from us the capacity to be smitten, does it not? It slowly but surely washes away all your enthusiasm and deposits uncertainty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-j-bishop/time-steals-from-us-the-capacity-to-be-smitten-does-it-not-it-slowly/) [K.J. Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-j-bishop/) > [You are time. Foul time, who steals the gold from a maiden's hair and takes the sapphire from a child's eyes. Dark time, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-are-time-foul-time-who-steals-the-gold-from-a-maiden-s-hair-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are moments of life that we never forget, which brighten and brighten as time steals away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gates-percival/there-are-moments-of-life-that-we-never-forget-which-brighten-and/) [James Gates Percival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gates-percival/) > [Time steals away without any inconvenience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/time-steals-away-without-any-inconvenience/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [When Time who steals our years away Shall steal our pleasures too, The mem'ry of the past will stay, And half our joys renew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-moore/when-time-who-steals-our-years-away-shall-steal-our-pleasures-too-the/) [Thomas Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-moore/) > [Time, whose millioned accidents creep in betwixt vows, and change decrees of kings, tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharpest intents, divert strong minds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-whose-millioned-accidents-creep-in-betwixt-vows-and-change/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The brain may devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o'er a cold decree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-brain-may-devise-laws-for-the-blood-but-a-hot-temper-leaps-o-er-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Authority is the spiritual dimension of power because it depends upon faith in a system of meaning that decrees the necessity of the hierarchical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/authority-is-the-spiritual-dimension-of-power-because-it-depends-upon/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [There must be a law if there is to be liberty. Try to play a piano and you will run into laws as fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/there-must-be-a-law-if-there-is-to-be-liberty-try-to-play-a-piano-and/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [Again I ask whence it happened that the fall of Adam involved, without remedy, in eternal death so many nations, together with their infant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/again-i-ask-whence-it-happened-that-the-fall-of-adam-involved-without/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [On one hand, we know that everything happens for a reason, and there are no mistakes or coincidences. 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We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickinson/kings-or-parliaments-could-not-give-the-rights-essential-to-happiness/) [John Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickinson/) ## More by William Shakespeare > [Let us kill all lawyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-kill-all-lawyers/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-tiger-s-heart-wrapped-in-a-woman-s-hide/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Divers philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/divers-philosophers-hold-that-the-lips-is-parcel-of-the-mouth/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-is-a-smoke-made-with-the-fume-of-sighs-being-purg-d-a-fire/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Ask God for temp'rance. That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies Which busy care draws in the brains of men; Therefore thou sleep’st so sound. Julius Caesar (2.1.248-251)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-hast-no-figures-nor-no-fantasies-which-busy-care-draws-in-the/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Truth needs no color; beauty, no pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/truth-needs-no-color-beauty-no-pencil/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Have you not heard it said full oft, A woman's nay doth stand for naught?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/have-you-not-heard-it-said-full-oft-a-woman-s-nay-doth-stand-for/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Omittance is no quittance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/omittance-is-no-quittance/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Yes, madam: yet I cannot choose but laugh, To think it should leave crying and say 'Ay.' And yet, I warrant, it had upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/yes-madam-yet-i-cannot-choose-but-laugh-to-think-it-should-leave/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-take-thee-at-thy-word-call-me-but-love-and-i-ll-be-new-baptized/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Explore all 5,604 William Shakespeare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More Decree quotes > [Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness... We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickinson/kings-or-parliaments-could-not-give-the-rights-essential-to-happiness/) [John Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickinson/) > [“What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/what-is-to-be-will-be-and-no-prayers-of-ours-can-arrest-the-decree/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [On one hand, we know that everything happens for a reason, and there are no mistakes or coincidences. On the other hand, we learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-berg/on-one-hand-we-know-that-everything-happens-for-a-reason-and-there/) [Yehuda Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-berg/) > [Again I ask whence it happened that the fall of Adam involved, without remedy, in eternal death so many nations, together with their infant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/again-i-ask-whence-it-happened-that-the-fall-of-adam-involved-without/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [There must be a law if there is to be liberty. Try to play a piano and you will run into laws as fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/there-must-be-a-law-if-there-is-to-be-liberty-try-to-play-a-piano-and/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Authority is the spiritual dimension of power because it depends upon faith in a system of meaning that decrees the necessity of the hierarchical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/authority-is-the-spiritual-dimension-of-power-because-it-depends-upon/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [State governments seek local remedies for the globally fabricated deprivations and miseries in vain - just as the individuals-by-the-decree-of-fate (read: by the impact of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/state-governments-seek-local-remedies-for-the-globally-fabricated/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [If there's another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/if-there-s-another-9-11-or-a-major-war-in-the-middle-east-involving-a/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [Nature is not benevolent; Nature is just, gives pound for pound, measure for measure, makes no exceptions, never tempers her decrees with mercy, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/nature-is-not-benevolent-nature-is-just-gives-pound-for-pound-measure/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Leadership does not mean being bossy, always telling others what to do. 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Pugh Browse all 224 Decree quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time Steals ere we can effect them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Shakespeare" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-top-for-we-are-old-and-on-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Decree" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-top-for-we-are-old-and-on-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/william-shakespeare-4_decree_let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-to_573788.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/william-shakespeare-4_decree_let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-to_573788.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/william-shakespeare-4_decree_let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-to_573788.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and…” — William Shakespeare", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Shakespeare", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Let's take the instant by the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-top-for-we-are-old-and-on-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-s-take-the-instant-by-the-forward-top-for-we-are-old-and-on-our/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```