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Start by following Marcus Valerius Martialis.
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“Tomorrow's life is too late. Live today.”
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“Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it.”
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“Here are the essentials of a happy life,
my dear friend: money not worked for,
but inherited; some land not unproductive;
a hearth fire always going; law suits never;
the toga rarely worn; a calm mind;
a gentleman’s strong and healthy body;
circumspect candor, friends who are your equals;
relaxed dinner parties, a simple table,
nights not drunken, but free from anxieties;
a marriage bed not prudish, and yet modest;
plenty of sleep to make the dark hours short. Wish
to be what you are, and prefer nothing more.
Don’t fear your last day, or hope for it either.
Translated from original text:
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.”
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my dear friend: money not worked for,
but inherited; some land not unproductive;
a hearth fire always going; law suits never;
the toga rarely worn; a calm mind;
a gentleman’s strong and healthy body;
circumspect candor, friends who are your equals;
relaxed dinner parties, a simple table,
nights not drunken, but free from anxieties;
a marriage bed not prudish, and yet modest;
plenty of sleep to make the dark hours short. Wish
to be what you are, and prefer nothing more.
Don’t fear your last day, or hope for it either.
Translated from original text:
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.”
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“You're obstinate, pliant, merry, morose, all at once. For me there's no living with you, or without you.”
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“Joys do not stay, but take wing and fly away.”
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“Laugh if you are wise, girl, laugh.”
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“Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none.
Lat., Fortuna multis dat nimis, satis nulli.]”
― Epigrams, Volume III, Books 11-14.
Lat., Fortuna multis dat nimis, satis nulli.]”
― Epigrams, Volume III, Books 11-14.
“Because he hates to praise by name
He praises everybody. Vice
And virtue must look much the same
To one who calls the whole world "nice".”
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He praises everybody. Vice
And virtue must look much the same
To one who calls the whole world "nice".”
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“Someone I flattered in a book pretends he owes me nothing. Oh the trash I have for friends.
- Martial (40 AD - 104 AD), Epigram V, xxxvi”
― Epigrams
- Martial (40 AD - 104 AD), Epigram V, xxxvi”
― Epigrams
“You ask what a nice girl will do? She won't give an inch,but she won't say no.”
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“If you think nobody is evil, can anybody be good?”
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“And let the soft turf cover her brittle bones:
earth, lie lightly on her: she lay lightly on you.”
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earth, lie lightly on her: she lay lightly on you.”
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“Flaccus, the sort of girl I hate
Is the scrawny one, with arms so thin
My rings would fit them, hips that grate,
Spine like a saw, knees like a pin
And a coccyx like a javelin.
But all the same I don't go in
For sheer bulk. I appreciate
Good meat, not blubber, on my plate.”
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Is the scrawny one, with arms so thin
My rings would fit them, hips that grate,
Spine like a saw, knees like a pin
And a coccyx like a javelin.
But all the same I don't go in
For sheer bulk. I appreciate
Good meat, not blubber, on my plate.”
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“Es sincero el dolor del que llora en secreto.”
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“Tomorrow I'll start living,' you say, Postumus: always tomorrow: Tell me, the 'tomorrow,' Postumus, when's it coming? How far off is that 'tomorrow?”
― Epigrams
― Epigrams
“No puedo vivir ni contigo ni sin ti.”
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“terrarum dominum pone supercilium”
― Select Epigrams of Martial
― Select Epigrams of Martial
“Cras te victurum, cras dicis, Postume, semper.
dic mihi, cras istud, Postume, quando venit?
quam longe cras istud, ubi est? aut unde petendum?
numquid apud Parthos Armeniosque latet?
iam cras istud habet Priami vel Nestoris annos.
cras istud quanti, dic mihi, possit emi?
cras vives? hodie iam vivere, Postume, serum est:
ille sapit quisquis, Postume, vixit heri.”
― Epigrams
dic mihi, cras istud, Postume, quando venit?
quam longe cras istud, ubi est? aut unde petendum?
numquid apud Parthos Armeniosque latet?
iam cras istud habet Priami vel Nestoris annos.
cras istud quanti, dic mihi, possit emi?
cras vives? hodie iam vivere, Postume, serum est:
ille sapit quisquis, Postume, vixit heri.”
― Epigrams
“You command my desire for the queen of cities to be mitigated: you alone are a Rome to me.”
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“erubuit posuitque meum Lucretia librum
sed coram Bruto; Brute, recede: leget.
(Lucretia blushed and set my book aside. But that was in front of Brutus. Go away, Brutus. She will read.)”
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sed coram Bruto; Brute, recede: leget.
(Lucretia blushed and set my book aside. But that was in front of Brutus. Go away, Brutus. She will read.)”
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“Lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba.”
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“Je veux bien que tu sois une Lucrèce pendant le jour tout entier, mais c’est une Laïs qu’il me faut la nuit.”
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“terra, gravis fueris: non fuit illa tibi
earth, lie lightly on her: she lay lightly on you”
― Epigrammata Selecta: Select Epigrams From Martial: Grammar School Classics
earth, lie lightly on her: she lay lightly on you”
― Epigrammata Selecta: Select Epigrams From Martial: Grammar School Classics
“erubuit posuitque meum Lucretia librum
sed coram Bruto; Brute, recede: leget.”
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sed coram Bruto; Brute, recede: leget.”
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