Some really great ones have been cited already but a glance
at my syllabus for Introduction to Material Culture reveals
my favorite. It is by Randall Jarrel, the poet. I discovered
it cited in a New York Times Book review. It is from an
unpublished manuscript: I have used it a thousand
(hyperbole) times:
"Things last by being lost or broken
The shard is safest under the loess
The Ark sails under the waters of the earth"
of course there is always Green Day
"Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go"
and the Bard of America Walt Whitman:
"The Past-the infinite greatnes of the Past! For what is the
present after all but a growth out of the PAST"