A Turkish guy I met at Antalya had the words Carpe Diem tattooed on his arm. I asked him what it meant, and he told me it meant "live the moment". Now, we hear this aphorism quite often, but what does this really mean? When I got back home, I looked it up on the internet, and saw that it translates into "seize the day" (or also "Enjoy the day"/ "Make use of this day") on Wikipedia.
Carpe Diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace.
The original text:
Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babyloniostemptaris numeros. ut melius, quicquid erit, pati,
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrhenum: sapias, uina liques, et spatio breui
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit inuida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
Translation:
Don't ask (it's forbidden to know) what final fate the gods have
given to me and you, Leuconoe, and don't consult Babylonian
horoscopes. How much better it is to accept whatever shall be,
whether Jupiter has given many more winters or whether this is the
last one, which now breaks the force of the Tuscan sea against the
facing cliffs. Be wise, strain the wine, and trim distant hope within
short limits. While we're talking, grudging time will already
have fled: seize the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.
given to me and you, Leuconoe, and don't consult Babylonian
horoscopes. How much better it is to accept whatever shall be,
whether Jupiter has given many more winters or whether this is the
last one, which now breaks the force of the Tuscan sea against the
facing cliffs. Be wise, strain the wine, and trim distant hope within
short limits. While we're talking, grudging time will already
have fled: seize the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.
(by Michael Gilleland)
Hence, be wise, do the daily task, and live today; time is swiftly flying.
How did you spend your day? :)
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