Life is a succession of moments, to live each one is to succeed.

“Life is a succession of moments, to live each one is to succeed.” – Corita Kent

In these luminous and compassionate words, Corita Kent, the artist, educator, and spiritual visionary, reveals a truth as delicate as it is profound: that life is not a grand possession to be conquered, but a flowing river of moments to be lived. Each breath, each glance, each act of kindness, each silence—these are the beads upon the rosary of existence. To live them fully, with presence and gratitude, is the truest form of success. Kent’s message is not one of ambition but of awareness; not of triumph over the world, but of intimacy with it. She reminds us that happiness and meaning are not hidden in distant tomorrows, but are born in the sacred now.

The origin of this wisdom arises from a life lived at the intersection of art and faith. Corita Kent, once a nun in the Immaculate Heart community, devoted her days to creating works of color and light—posters, prints, and poetry that celebrated love, humanity, and hope. She lived in the turbulence of the 1960s, when the world cried out for peace and renewal, yet she found her sanctuary in the moment—in teaching, in creating, in noticing the divine in the ordinary. Her words echo both the contemplative spirit of the monastery and the vibrant pulse of the modern world: that one need not withdraw from life to be holy, nor achieve greatness to be fulfilled. One must simply live—truly, attentively, and with open heart—in each passing moment.

To say that life is a succession of moments is to recognize that time does not come to us in years or decades, but in instants—each one fleeting, each one complete. The ancients knew this. The Stoics spoke of memento mori, remembering that life is short, so that every hour might be treasured. The mystics of the East taught mindfulness—the art of being fully present, not imprisoned by the past or ensnared by the future. And now, through Kent’s gentle voice, we hear the same eternal counsel: to live each moment is to succeed. For success is not the sum of achievements, but the depth of one’s attention to the miracle of being alive.

Consider the example of Anne Frank, a young girl hidden away in an attic during one of history’s darkest storms. Her world was confined, her future uncertain, yet in her diary she wrote of the sky, the chestnut tree, the sound of laughter, the hope that still burned within her. She, too, lived moment by moment, and in doing so, triumphed over despair. Though she was denied freedom, she succeeded in the truest sense—by inhabiting life fully, even when it was fragile and fleeting. Her story teaches us that success is not measured by how long or how grand a life is, but by how deeply one has lived it.

To live each moment is to awaken. It is to break free from the illusion that life begins after some distant achievement, some future peace, or some perfect circumstance. It is to recognize that the ordinary is already sacred—the taste of bread, the sound of rain, the warmth of another’s hand. Those who wait for life to begin often find that it has already passed them by, while those who live as Kent taught—moment by moment—find eternity in the simplest hour. Presence is the gateway to joy; awareness is the seed of success.

But to live this way demands courage. It requires that we release our obsession with control, that we accept both sorrow and joy as parts of the same whole. For life, being a succession of moments, will bring us both sunlight and storm. Yet even in pain, if we remain awake, we discover grace. Corita Kent herself endured criticism, illness, and exile, yet she never turned away from the beauty of life. In her art and her teaching, she kept saying, “Yes”—yes to the world as it is, yes to the moment as it comes. To live like this is not to deny struggle, but to see through it to the heart of life itself.

So, my child of the fleeting day, take this wisdom as your compass: Live each moment, and you will have succeeded. Do not measure your days by wealth or recognition, but by presence. Do not postpone joy for a better season, for there is no other time than now. Begin this very moment to notice—to breathe, to see, to feel gratitude for what is before you. In every conversation, listen deeply. In every task, give your whole being. In every sorrow, remain open enough to find meaning. This is how the wise live. This is how the heart becomes full. And when your final moment arrives, you will not fear its ending, for you will know—you have lived every one before it as a life complete.