One reason is that the phrase means different things to people.

The phrase means "One day we will be happy to remember this."

Such a short phrase it was, but meaning so much.

Not being from California, this phrase meant nothing to me.

The phrase meant a good bit more to each of them now, he thought, than it would have even a few months before.

This phrase really means, "I am ready for whatever comes."

That the phrase could mean anything else never occurred to him.

No doubt the phrase meant something different to her than it did to him.

In the modern day, the phrase can mean numerous things other than death.

If all this doesn't add up to a rise in living standards, I'm not sure what the phrase means.