Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Not found in Gandhi’s writings: Wikiquote lists it under Disputed, and no source in his works has been cited for it; a search here of the OCR of Young India 1919–1922 (1924), the Collected Works vol. XLV, Freedom’s Battle and The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism found no such sentence; the rest of his writings were not searched. Wikiquote gives the older history: the introduction to the Hitopadesha has a Sanskrit verse to the effect that the wise should acquire learning and wealth as if never to grow old or die, and practise virtue as if death had already seized them by the hair; Johann Gottfried Herder wrote a kindred couplet in 1785; the aphorism ‘Study as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were to die tomorrow’ was credited to Edmund Rich (1175–1240) in the American Journal of Education in 1877 (Wikiquote gives neither that printing’s wording nor a page) and to Isidore of Seville in Franklin Pierce Adams’s FPA Book of Quotations (1952). Samuel Smiles printed it as an epigraph in Duty (1880), credited to ‘Ansalus de Insulis’ (presumably a misprint for Alanus de Insulis), that is, Alain de Lille: ‘Learn as if you were to live for ever; live as if you were to die to-morrow.’ The book The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi (1995) says that Gandhi subscribed ‘to the view that a man should live thinking he might die tomorrow but learn as if he would live forever’, which is a statement about him, not a quotation. When the wording was first credited to Gandhi himself is not known. Apart from Smiles, these items rest on Wikiquote’s citations and were not seen here.

1. 1785Before it · credited to Johann Gottfried HerderJohann Gottfried Herder, in a couplet: enjoy life as if you were to leave tomorrow, spare it as if you were to stay forever. The thought, not the wording.Mensch, genieße dein Leben, als müssest morgen du weggehn; Schone dein Leben, als ob ewig du weiletest hier.Johann Gottfried Herder, Zerstreute Blätter (1785). Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
2. 1877Before it · credited to Edmund RichThe American Journal of Education credits the aphorism to Edmund Rich (1175–1240), according to Wikiquote, which gives neither the wording nor a page: an earlier credit whose wording was not seen.American Journal of Education, 1877. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
3. 1880Earliest found · credited to Alain de LilleSamuel Smiles puts it at the head of the chapter ‘Responsibility’ in Duty, credited to ‘Ansalus de Insulis’ (presumably a misprint for Alanus de Insulis, Alain de Lille): the earliest printing of the wording seen here (earlier printings were not searched).Learn as if you were to live for ever; live as if you were to die to-morrow.Samuel Smiles, Duty: With Illustrations of Courage, Patience, and Endurance (New York: George Munro, [1880]), chapter XV, ‘Responsibility’, p. 405. Checked on a page scan. Source
4. 1952Credited to Isidore of SevilleFranklin Pierce Adams’s FPA Book of Quotations credits it to Isidore of Seville.Franklin Pierce Adams, FPA Book of Quotations (1952). Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
5. 1995Spread · credited to Mahatma Gandhi (the view, not the words)A portrait of Gandhi by his grandson says he subscribed to the view, without quoting him.to the view that a man should live thinking he might die tomorrow but learn as if he would live forever.Rajmohan Gandhi, The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi (1995). Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source

Widely shared as Gandhi’s. No one has cited it from his writings or speeches. The saying is centuries older than Gandhi and has been credited to many people: in the nineteenth century to the medieval churchmen Edmund Rich and Alain de Lille (Alanus de Insulis), later to Isidore of Seville and Erasmus; an Indian form of the thought opens the Sanskrit Hitopadesha. A biography by his grandson Rajmohan Gandhi (1995) says Gandhi held the view, without quoting him.

Act each day as if it were your last, doing now what matters, but keep learning as if you had all the time in the world.

Quoted as Gandhi’s own maxim. It is an old saying, printed under Edmund Rich’s and Alain de Lille’s names in the 1870s and 1880s; at most Gandhi agreed with it.

Not found in Gandhi’s words. It is an old proverb with many claimants; if you quote it, call it a proverb, or cite Smiles’s Duty (1880), where it is credited to Alain de Lille.

• The Hitopadesha: A verse in the introduction: the wise should think of learning and wealth as if they would never age or die, and practise dharma as if death already had them by the hair.
• Johann Gottfried Herder, 1785: A couplet: enjoy your life as if you were to depart tomorrow; spare your life as if you were to linger here forever.

Life, Death, Time, Wisdom, Meaning of life, Education

• You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. (not found) Marcus Aurelius
• Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (misattributed) Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. (not found) Mark Twain
• You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. (misattributed) C. S. Lewis
• Do not try to find the past again in the future. André Gide

• en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi (Disputed: ‘Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever’)
• archive.org/details/dutywithillustra00smilrich (Samuel Smiles, Duty, New York: G. Munro, [1880], p. 405, page image)

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. No. It is not in Gandhi’s works, and who first wrote it is not known. Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/live-as-if-you-were-to-die-tomorrow/ (checked 23 October 2026).

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