How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
I sadly smiling remember that the flower fades to make fruit, the fruit rots to make earth. (3)
The speaker is sadly smiling because he knows what's up here, even if everyone else doesn't. He's accepted the change he sees all around him and compares it to the most natural cycle of a flower giving way to fruit that then rots to make more dirt. The energy of change is everywhere and there's no stopping it, no matter if you're a fruit or a man.
Quote #2
You making haste haste on decay: not blameworthy; life is good, be it stubbornly long or suddenly (5)
The haste-makers seem to think that it's necessary to rush around all the time and do the same routine over and over again. It's like the idea of having a good thing with no need to fix anything about it, since it'll be good forever. Of course the speaker says here that's not realistic when you're dealing with a decaying empire. But hey, life is good regardless of what you do, so the rushing around is no big deal either way.
Quote #3
A mortal splendor: meteors are not needed less than mountains: shine, perishing republic. (6)
We can wish for only the mountains all we like, but the fact is that we're bound to have mountains and meteors since they represent the opposite, but equal, forces that govern the universe. Creation and destruction may look like opposites, but we see here that they're equally necessary and work together to make the world go 'round. So they're not really so dualistic after all since we need one to have the other. And beneath the empire that's being destroyed is the potential for new creation—yay, a happy ending.