Known sourcecanonical
"Life let us cherish, while yet the taper glows, And the fresh flow'ret pluck ere it close; Why are we fond of toil and care? Why choose the rankling thorn to wear?"
J. M. Usteri / Life let us cherish.
Life let us cherish.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed. (Little, Brown, 1905), public domain