Lucretius
Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Caruswas a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem De rerum natura about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which is usually translated into English as On the Nature of Things...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionPoet
latin deeds-done evil
So potent was religion in persuading to evil deeds.
greatest-wealth soul mind
It is great wealth to a soul to live frugally with a contented mind.
poetry touching charm
Gently touching with the charm of poetry.
men giving doubt
For out of doubt In these affairs 'tis each man's will itself That gives the start, and hence throughout our limbs Incipient motions are diffused.
time names degrees
No single thing abides; but all things flow. Fragment to fragment clings - the things thus grow Until we know them and name them. By degrees They melt, and are no more the things we know.
warfare encounters pleasure
Pleasant it to behold great encounters of warfare arrayed over the plains, with no part of yours in peril.
flower rain heart
From the heart of this fountain of delights wells up some bitter taste to choke them even amid the flowers.
space grandparent torches
In a brief space the generations of beings are changed, and, like runners, pass on the torches of life.
summer spring rain
Many animals even now spring out of the soil, Coalescing from the rains and the heat of the sun. Small wonder, then, if more and bigger creatures, Full-formed, arose from the new young earth and sky. The breed, for instance, of the dappled birds Shucked off their eggshells in the springtime, as Crickets in summer will slip their slight cocoons All by themselves, and search for food and life. Earth gave you, then, the first of mortal kinds, For all the fields were soaked with warmth and moisture.
envy levels thunderbolts
The highest summits and those elevated above the level of other things are mostly blasted by envy as by a thunderbolt.
earth sprung
What once sprung from the earth sinks back into the earth.
death generations may
You may complete as many generations as you please during your life; none the less will that everlasting death await you.
fall lasts stones
A falling drop at last will carve a stone.
doubt void wander
For there is a VOID in things; a truth which it will be useful for you, in reference to many points, to know; and which will prevent you from wandering in doubt.