That posterity may be a rising instead of a setting star is man’s consolation. Time present works for time to come. Work, then, and hope.

[Que l’avenir soit un orient au lieu d’être un couchant, c’est la consolation de l’homme. Le temps présent travaille au temps futur, donc travaillez et espérez.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer

William Shakespeare, Part 1, Book 2 “Men of Genius [Les Génies], ch. 2 (1.2.2) (1864) [tr. Baillot (1864)]
    (Source)

Speaking of Ezekiel's message in the Bible, as one of what Hugo considered the great authors/poets of history.(Source (French)). Another translation:

It is man's consolation that the future is to be a sunrise instead of a sunset. Time presents works for time to come; work, then, and hope!
[tr. Anderson (1886)]