Mors me sequitur, fugit vita

Quid agam? Mors me sequitur, fugit vita. Adversus haec me doce aliquid; effice ut ego mortem non fugiam, vita me non effugiat.


Ką man daryti? Mirtis persekioja mane, nuo manęs bėga gyvenimas. Pamokyk mane su tuo grumtis. Padaryk, kad aš nebėgčiau nuo mirties, o gyvenimas nesprūstų man iš rankų.


What am I to do? Death is on my trail, and life is fleeting away. Teach me something with which to face these troubles. Bring it to pass that I shall cease trying to escape from death, and that life may cease to escape from me.

Non enim vivunt sed victuri sunt

Recognosce singulos, considera universos: nullius non vita spectat in crastinum. Quid in hoc sit mali quaeris? Infinitum. Non enim vivunt sed victuri sunt: omnia differunt. Etiamsi attenderemus, tamen nos vita praecurreret; nunc vero cunctantes quasi aliena transcurrit et ultimo die finitur, omni perit.


Prisimink kiekvieną žmogų, pamąstyk apie visus: kiekvieno gyvenimas užimtas rytdiena. Tu paklausi, ar yra čia kas nors bloga. Be galo daug. Juk jie ne gyvena, o tik rengiasi gyventi ir viską atidėlioja. Kiek besistengtume, gyvenimas vis tiek mus pralenks. Dabar jis pro mus, begaištančius, iš tiesų prabėga lyg svetimas ir, kasdien taip praeidamas, baigiasi paskutiniąja diena.


Consider individuals, survey men in general; there is none whose life does not look forward to the morrow. “What harm is there in this,” you ask? Infinite harm; for such persons do not live, but are preparing to live. They postpone everything. Even if we paid strict attention, life would soon get ahead of us; but as we are now, life finds us lingering and passes us by as if it belonged to another, and though it ends on the final day, it perishes every day.

Sine missione nascimur

Sine missione nascimur.


Jeigu jau gimėme, nebus mūsų pasigailėta.


There is no discharge for us from the moment we are born.

Qui vivit vita peracta

Ille demum necessitates supergressus est et exauctoratus ac liber qui vivit vita peracta.


Tik tas atsikratė visų reikmių, tas atsistatydino ir yra laisvas, kuris gyvena jau užbaigęs gyvenimą.


He has at length passed beyond all necessities,—he has won his honourable discharge and is free,—who still lives after his life has been completed.

Sibi fidere

Unum bonum est, quod beatae vitae causa et firmamentum est, sibi fidere.


Yra tik vienas gėris, laimingo gyvenimo pagrindas ir stiprybė — tai pasitikėjimas savimi.


There is only one good, the cause and the support of a happy life,—trust in oneself.

Succurri non potest navigio dehiscenti

Quemadmodum in nave quae sentinam trahit uni rimae aut alteri obsistitur, ubi plurimis locis laxari coepit et cedere, succurri non potest navigio dehiscenti, ita in senili corpore aliquatenus imbecillitas sustineri et fulciri potest.


Kaip būna su laivu, į kurį sunkiasi vanduo: vieną ar kitą skylę galima užkimšti, o kai daugelyje vietų jis pradeda trūkinėti ir plyšti, suirusiam laivui padėti neįmanoma; taip ir senio kūno silpnumą galima kęsti ir net ramstyti tik iki tam tikro laiko.


Just as in a ship that springs a leak, you can always stop the first or the second fissure, but when many holes begin to open and let in watter, the gaping hull cannot be saved; similarly, in an old man’s body, there is a certain limit up to which you can sustain and prop its weakness.

Molestum est semper vitam inchoare

Constituendum est quid velimus et in eo perseverandum. <...> ‘Molestum est semper vitam inchoare’. <...> Quidam vero tunc incipiunt cum desinendum est. <...> Quidam ante vivere desierunt quam inciperent.


Reikia nuspręsti, ko norime, ir atkakliai to siekti. <..> “Sunku nuolatos pradėti gyvenimą iš naujo”. <...> Kai kurie pradeda gyventi tada, kai reikia baigti. <...> Kai kurie nustoja gyventi taip ir nepradėję.


We should decide what we wish, and abide by the decision. <...> “It is bothersome always to be beginning life.” <...> Some men, indeed, only begin to live when it is time for them to leave off living. <...> Some men have left off living before they have begun.

Nemo quam bene vivat sed quam diu curat

Nemo quam bene vivat sed quam diu curat, cum omnibus possit contingere ut bene vivant, ut diu nulli.


Visi rūpinasi ne kaip gyvena, o kiek gyvens, tuo tarpu gerai gyventi gali visi, ilgai — niekas.


Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man’s power to live long.

Quales intrastis exite

Peiores morimur quam nascimur. Nostrum istud, non naturae vitium est. Illa nobiscum queri debet et dicere, ‘quid hoc est? sine cupiditatibus vos genui, sine timoribus, sine superstitione, sine perfidia ceterisque pestibus: quales intrastis exite’.


Mirštame blogesni negu gimstame. Tai — mūsų, o ne prigimties kaltė. Kaip tik ji turi mumis skųstis sakydama: “Kaipgi taip? Aš pagimdžiau jus be aistrų, be baimės, be prietarų, be klastos ir kitų blogybių. Išeikite tokie, kokie atėjote”.


We are worse when we die than when we were born; but it is our fault, and not that of Nature. Nature should scold us, saying: “What does this mean? I brought you into the world without desires or fears, free from superstition,
treachery and the other curses. Go forth as you were when you entered!”

Nemo nascitur dives

Nemo nascitur dives. Quisquis exit in lucem iussus est lacte et panno esse contentus; ab his initiis nos regna non capiunt.


Niekas negimsta turtingas. Pasaulį išvydusiam žmogui liepta tenkintis pienu ir skuduru. Taip mes pradedame, o vėliau mums nebepakanka ir karalysčių.


No man is born rich. Every man, when he first sees light, is commanded to be content with milk and rags. Such is our beginning, and yet kingdoms are all too small for us.