We are no more than candles burning in the wind.

The proverb likens human life to a candle flame exposed to wind: bright but easily extinguished. It emphasizes fragility, impermanence, and the limited control people have over forces larger than themselves—chance, illness, disaster, political upheaval, or the simple passage of time. The image also suggests that even while vulnerable, a life can still give light; meaning and beauty exist precisely because they are temporary. Read this way, the saying can function both as a memento mori (a reminder of mortality) and as an encouragement toward humility and compassion, since everyone shares the same precarious condition.