Carpe diem ‘Enjoy the day, seize the day’
This is from Horace (first century BC), one of the finest Roman poets. He is encouraging people to enjoy each moment and day of life, because life is fleeting – this was his general philosophy.
‘Carpe diem’ is actually an image of plucking ripe fruit. The word ‘carpe’ really means ‘to pluck fruit [from a tree].
The full line is:
enjoy the day, as little as possible trust to tomorrow:
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero
Horace is encouraging a friend to enjoy life and stop fretting about what might happen and trying to figure out what the future may bring.
The words come from Horace’s most famous works, the Odes: a hundred short poems reflecting on life. They are one of the masterpieces of world literature: sharp, clear and evocative, like polished gems.
The phrase ‘carpe diem’ is a key point in the film ‘Dead Poets Society’ where an English teacher (played by Robin Williams) encourages his pupils to make the most of life and take opportunities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Poets_Society Background Horace was one of the outstanding Roman writers. The first century BC was a peak in Roman poetry: firstly with Lucretius and Catullus; then later with Horace, Virgil, Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid – those in the second group were contemporaries and formed a circle in Rome, with the emperor Augustus as a general patron.
Horace is best known for the Odes and Epodes, exquisitely crafted short poems, modelled on Greek lyrics. He also wrote the longer Satires and Epistles, which are like journalistic discussions of everyday life. Finally, he is renowned for a verse essay ‘On the Art of Poetry’, which sought to find some principles of good writing: the rules were followed by many writers for hundreds of years.
Horace was an Epicurean by philosophy, following the views of Epicurus, rather like modern atomism and materialism, that everything is simply made of atoms, so there was no existence before and after this life. Epicureans believed in the gods, but that they were distant and uninvolved in human affairs – so they were quite like deists of the 1700s who believed God created the universe but has not since intervened. Epicureans were also quite like Buddhists in their lifestyle and practice: they believed there was a lot of angst and trouble in this life, so the best way of living was to seek pleasure by attaining peacefulness or ‘undisturbedness’ (ataraxia) and the absence of pain and fear. One of their mottos was ‘live hidden’ and a modern French writer described their approach as ‘tend your own garden’ (‘cultiver votre jardin’). Horace was quite a bon viveur: he enjoyed the good things in life such as wine, music, friendship and the countryside, so he sought pleasure in a different way, a more hedonistic manner. As such, Horace possibly didn’t entirely live by the classic Epicurean approach: although he avoided the stresses of high office, he was at the centre of Roman cultural life: his patron was Augustus the emperor and he knew lots of leading figures. However, one gets the impression he was most focussed on enjoying his life.
The word ‘epicure’ in modern English has come to mean a connoisseur, especially of good food and wine ie pursuing pleasure in a more hedonistic sense. This is something of a misunderstanding of Epicureanism, which was about finding pleasure in peacefulness and calm. However, as it happens, the most famous Epicurean of all, Horace, was also something of an epicure. Perhaps the modern term comes from Horace’s example ? Reading Wiki on Horace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace Wiki on Epicureanism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism definition of 'epicure': ttps://www.etymonline.com/word/epicure#:~:text=late%2014c.%2C%20%22follower%20of,who%20gives%20himself%20up%20to
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