"Mono No Aware: the most precious thing in life is its uncertainty"

The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty. And some might say this is why life and other transient things are so beautiful.

"Mono no aware" is a Japanese term translated as "an empathy toward things." It is also used to refer to an awareness of the transience of things that heightens their beauty and creates in us a wistfulness at their passing as well as a deeper feeling of gentle poignancy about life and love. "Mono" comes from the word for "thing." And "aware" (ah-wah-rey) translates as an expression similar to "ah." The term has frequently been translated as "the ahh-ness of things." Ahhh ... life is uncertain, therefore we approach it with gentle awe and deep feeling.