footprints on the sands of time

Cultural  

1. A phrase from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, describing the mark that great individuals leave on history.

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Example Sentences

I Was Here – BeyoncéIt starts, "I wanna leave my footprints on the sands of time", which is such an amazing line.

From The Guardian • Aug. 7, 2012

No man can live on earth without leaving, "footprints on the sands of time," which will influence those who come after him for good or evil.

From Life and Literature Over two thousand extracts from ancient and modern writers, and classified in alphabetical order by Richardson, John Purver

They have left their "footprints on the sands of time" mainly because they were self-reliant and self-helpful.

From Increasing Personal Efficiency by Conwell, Russell H.

But regarding those literal human "footprints on the sands of time," which have been left behind by our prehistoric ancestors, we can make no such accurate scientific inductions.

From Roman Mosaics Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood by Macmillan, Hugh

Thus, in the best-known of his earlier poems, "A Psalm of Life," he uses the famous metaphor of "footprints on the sands of time."

From Outlines of English and American Literature : an Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived by Long, William Joseph