Persius

thumb|Our life is our own today; tomorrow you will be dust, a shade, and a tale that is told. Live mindful of death; the hour flies. Aulus Persius Flaccus (34–62) was a Roman satirical poet and moralist. Quotes The Satires Translations are taken from G. G. Ramsay's revised edition of Juvenal and Persius in the Loeb Classical Library (1940) Magister artis ingenique largitorventer. That master of arts, that dispenser of genius, the Belly. Prologue, line 10 Quis leget haec? Who’ll read that sort of thing? Satire I, line 2 (trans. W. S. Merwin) Nec te quaesiveris extra. Don’t consult anyone’s opinions but your own. Satire I, line 7 Usque adeonescire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter? Is all your knowledge to go so utterly for nothing unless other people know that you possess it? Satire I, line 26 At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier "hic est". O but it is a fine thing to have a finger pointed at one, and to hear people say, "That's the man!" Satire I, line 28 Nec nocte paratum,plorabit qui me volet incurvasse querella. The man who wishes to bend me with his tale of woe must shed true tears – not tears that have been got ready overnight. Satire I, line 90 Virtutem videant intabescantque relicta. Let them recognize virtue and rot for having lost it. Satire III, line 38 Alternate translation by William Gifford:—"In all her charms, set Virtue in their eye,And let them see their loss, despair, and—die!" Ut nemo in sese tentat descendere! nemo!Sed praecedenti spectatur mantica tergo. None, none descends into himself, to findThe secret imperfections of his mind. Satire IV, line 23 (trans. John Dryden) Tecum habita: noris quam sit tibi curta supellex. Live with yourself: get to know how poorly furnished you are. Satire IV, line 52 Cum lux altera venit,iam cras hesternum consumpsimus; ecce aliud crasegerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra. But when to-morrow comes, yesterday's morrow will have been already spent: and lo! a fresh morrow will be for ever making away with our years, each just beyond our grasp. Satire V, line 67 Nostrum estquod vivis, cinis et manes et fabula fies.vive memor leti, fugit hora. Our life is our own to-day, to-morrow you will be dust, a shade, and a tale that is told. Live mindful of death; the hour flies. Satire V, line 151 Attributed She knows her man, and when you rant and swear,Can draw you to her with a single hair. John Dryden, The Fifth Satire of Persius, line 246 External links Persius Persius Category:1st century births Category:1st century deaths Category:Poets from Rome Category:Satirists from Rome Category:Stoics