expression
time flies; life is fleeting
A classical proverb from Zhuangzi, used to express how quickly time passes. The literal image is of a white horse glimpsed through a crack in a wall, vanishing in an instant. Rare in modern conversation but found in literary or reflective contexts.
「白駒の隙を過ぐるが如し」という言葉がある。
There is a saying, 'Time flies like a white horse glimpsed through a crack in the wall.'
人生は白駒の隙を過ぐるが如しと古人は言った。
The ancients said that life passes as swiftly as a white horse seen through a gap in a wall.
From the Chinese Daoist text Zhuangzi (荘子), where the fleeting glimpse of a white horse through a wall gap illustrates the brevity of life. The Japanese reading is a classical kanbun rendering.