text: who wrote the quote "like sands through an hourglass, these are the days of our lives?"? i know it is used in conjuction with the soap opera days of our lives, but who wrote the original quote? from its debut in 1965 until march of 1966, announcer ed prentiss spoke the words now made famous by macdonald carey. since april 1966, the late macdonald carey has intoned the legendary epigram "like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." from 1966 to 1994, he would also say, "this is macdonald carey, and these are the days of our lives." after carey's passing, the decision was made to remove the second part of the opening, out of respect for carey and his family.