New Philosopher

The right time

Time is the most used noun in the English language, reflecting the extent to which it’s on our minds. Sometimes we’re ahead of time, but more often than not we’re pressed for time, or worse still plain out of time. We set ourselves deadlines to guarantee that we get things done on time and we hurry through a long trip to make good time. All this rushing and clock-watching can make it feel as if life is on borrowed time; and in a way, it’s true: we are.

As the Earth rotates on its axis, and the Sun crosses the sky, a shadow is cast down upon us. A device that has been used for thousands of years to measure this shadow is the sundial. A thin rod projects the shadow upon a metal plate marked with the hours of the day; the sundial indicates the stage of the

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