All flesh is grass (Hebrew: כָּל־הַבָּשָׂ֣ר חָצִ֔יר kol habbasar chatsir^[1]), is a phrase found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 40, verses 6–8. The English text in King James Version is as follows:^[2]

⁶ The voice said, Cry.

And he said, What shall I cry?

All flesh is grass,

and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

⁷ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it:

surely the people is grass.

⁸ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

A more modern text, English Standard Version, reads:^[3]

⁶ A voice says, “Cry!”

And I said, “What shall I cry?”

All flesh is grass,

and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

In the New Testament the phrase reoccurs in the First Epistle of Peter (see 1 Peter 1:24; Greek: πᾶσα σὰρξ ὡς χόρτος, pasa sarx hōs chortos^[4]). It was a commonly used epitaph, frequently found for example on old ledger stones and monuments in churches in 17th century England. The phrase is interpreted to mean that human life is transitory ('impotent, perishing, limited').^[5]

It has been used in various works, including:Template:Order

• "All Flesh is Grass", a poem by English poet Christina Rossetti
• "War Photographer" by the Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy, where it describes the sights seen in war photographs
• "The Omnivore's Dilemma", a nonfiction book by Michael Pollan
• "Difficulties of a Statesman" by T. S. Eliot, repeated in a line of the poem
• All Flesh is Grass, a novel by American science fiction writer Clifford D. Simak
• All flesh is Grass: Pleasures & Promises of Pasture Farming, a book on agriculture by American author Gene Logsdon
• All Flesh Is Grass, an album by Norwegian dark metal band Madder Mortem
• King Edward VI and the Pope, inscribed on the pope's chest in the painting
• Deathbed of Henry VIII, inscribed on the pope's chest in the painting
• The Shoemakers' Holiday (1599) by Thomas Dekker
• "Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras", the second movement of the German Requiem by Johannes Brahms, used as text
• "Arithmetic on the Frontier", poem by Rudyard Kipling's, used in the first stanza
• "Ten Songs" by W. H. Auden, used in the third stanza of the ninth poem
• The Good Soldier Švejk and His Fortunes in the World War, novel by Jaroslav Hašek's, the volunteer Marek recites it to Švejk
• Heaven's Gate (1980), John Hurt's character Billy Irvine mutters it to himself as
• Cracker, the phrase appears in "The Big Crunch" episode^[6]
• En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt by Carl David af Wirsén, it gives the tone to the second part of the 1889 Swedish summer hymn
• "6ix", song by The Lemonheads on the album Car Button Cloth.
• "All Flesh Is Grass", Doctor Who novel written by Una McCormack, released in 2020
• "The Code of the Woosters" by PG Wodehouse, first published in 1938, quoted by Bertie Wooster
• "The Bird of Night" by Susan Hill
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Waiting Room: Chapter 8), Aunt Lydia references incorrectly as "all flesh is weak"^[7]
• "The Old Nurses Story" (1852) by Elizabeth Gaskell: "Flesh is grass, they do say..."^[8]