Someone has been searching – repeatedly – for the Latin epigram by the Roman poet Martial that is the motto of this blog. Roughly, it means: " Neither wish for , nor fear your last day". Courtesy of the blog pro linguae Latinae magistris and it's proprietor, Mark A. Keith here is a translation of the entire stanza. (Mr. Keith is a high school Latin teacher in Fredericksburg, Virginia).
Martial X.47: "Living the Happy Life"
Vitam quae faciant beatiorem,
Iucundissime Martialis, haec sunt:
Res non parta labore, sed relicta;
Non ingratus ager, focus perennis;
Lis numquam, toga rara, mens quieta;
Vires ingenuae, salubre corpus;
Prudens simplicitas, pares amici;
Convictus facilis, sine arte mensa;
Nox non ebria, sed soluta curis;
Non tristis torus, et tamen pudicus;
Somnus, qui faciat breves tenebras:
Quod sis, esse velis nihilque malis;
Summum nec metuas diem nec optes.Translation:
Martial, my good man, these things make for a happier life:
stuff not gotten from work, but left to you;
a happy garden, always a fire in the stove;
never being called to court, a little-used suit, a mind at peace;
free-born strength, a healthy body;
straight-talking wisdom and friends who feel the same way;
modest entertainment, simple food;
not partying all night, but free from cares;
not sleeping alone, but not around either;
dreams which make the night pass quickly:
may you want to be who you are and long for nothing;
may you neither dread your final day nor look forward to it.
My thanks to Mr. Keith for posting that.
Oh, thanks for Mr. Keith. I like the verse a lot!
My 1/2 acre garden is now 30 years organic, feeds me, is my ‘health insurance’, gives me daily pleasure working out in it with the sun on my back and the breeze on my face…
When I turned 50, I made a decision that I would no longer allow fear to be a deciding motivation in my life. I figured there must be some point in one’s life when life could and should be lived with fear relegated to the background by resolve. So, I challenged myself on the day of that birthday to do the one particular action which fear had always stopped me from doing. I still remember [almost 13 years later] that ‘click’ in my belly when I said ‘no more’ to fear controlling me, and actually went through the action.
I guess I would say that when fear rules one’s life, it would extend to a fear about death. Better to be fully alive when living than partly dead before dying.