Carpe Diem - Wikipedia

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• 1 Translation
• 2 History Toggle History subsection
  • 2.1 Sources
  • 2.2 In ancient literature
• 3 Meaning Toggle Meaning subsection
  • 3.1 Related expressions
• 4 Contemporary mentions
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 Sources
• 8 External links

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Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Latin phrase meaning "seize the day" For other uses, see Carpe diem (disambiguation).

Carpe diem (/ˌkɑːr.peɪˈdi.əm/ ⓘ) is a Latin aphorism, usually translated 'seize the day', taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace's work Odes (23 BC).[1]

Translation

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Carpe is the second-person singular present active imperative of carpō "pick or pluck" used by Horace to mean "enjoy, seize, use, make use of".[2] Diem is the accusative of dies "day". A more literal translation of carpe diem would thus be "pluck the day [as it is ripe]"—that is, enjoy the moment. It has been argued by various authors that this interpretation is closer to Horace's original meaning.[3] Latin scholar and retired Saint Joseph's University professor, Maria S. Marsilio points out, carpe diem is a horticultural metaphor that, particularly seen in the context of the poem, is more accurately translated as "plucking the day", evoking the plucking and gathering of ripening fruits or flowers, enjoying a moment that is rooted in the sensory experience of nature.[4]

History

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Sources

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Text from Odes 1.11:

Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati. seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam, quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare Tyrrhenum. Sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

Ask not ('tis forbidden knowledge), what our destined term of years, Mine and yours; nor scan the tables of your Babylonish seers. Better far to bear the future, my Leuconoe, like the past, Whether Jove has many winters yet to give, or this our last; This, that makes the Tyrrhene billows spend their strength against the shore. Strain your wine and prove your wisdom; life is short; should hope be more? In the moment of our talking, envious time has ebb'd away. Seize the present; trust tomorrow e'en as little as you may.[5]

In ancient literature

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Perhaps the first written expression of the concept is the advice given by Siduri to Gilgamesh in Mesopotamian mythology, telling him to forgo his mourning and embrace life, although some scholars see it as simply urging Gilgamesh to abandon his mourning, "reversing the liminal rituals of mourning and returning to the normal and normative behaviors of Mesopotamian society."[6][7]

Meaning

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In Horace, the phrase is part of the longer carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero, which is often translated as "Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)". The ode says that the future is unforeseen and that one should not leave to chance future happenings, but rather one should do all one can today to make one's own future better. This phrase is usually understood against Horace's Epicurean background.[8]

Related expressions

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Collige, virgo, rosas ("gather, girl, the roses") appears at the end of the poem "De rosis nascentibus"[9] ("Of growing roses", also called Idyllium de rosis) attributed to Ausonius or Virgil. It encourages youth to enjoy life before it is too late; compare "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" from Robert Herrick's 1648 poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time".

"De Brevitate Vitae" ("On the Shortness of Life"), often referred to as "Gaudeamus igitur", (Let us rejoice) is a popular academic commercium song, on taking joy in student life, with the knowledge that one will someday die. It is medieval Latin, dating to 1287.

Related but distinct is the expression memento mori (remember that you are mortal) which carries some of the same connotation as carpe diem. For Horace, mindfulness of our own mortality is key in making us realize the importance of the moment. "Remember that you are mortal, so seize the day." Over time the phrase memento mori also came to be associated with penitence, as suggested in many vanitas paintings. Today many people will take the two phrases as representing almost opposite approaches, with carpe diem urging us to savour life and memento mori urging us to resist its allure. This is not the original sense of the memento mori phrase as used by Horace.

Contemporary mentions

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In modern English, the expression "YOLO", meaning "you only live once", expresses a similar sentiment.[10][11]

In the 1989 American film Dead Poets Society, the English teacher John Keating, played by Robin Williams, famously says: "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." Later, this line was voted as the 95th greatest movie quote by the American Film Institute.[12] (the line in this context is grammatically incorrect: when addressed to "boys" in the plural, the phrase ought to be "carpite diem".)[13]

In the 2012 album ¡Uno! by Green Day, the third song was titled "Carpe Diem".

In the 2017 Korean drama series Chicago Typewriter, the club "Carpe Diem" is owned by Shin Yool and is the scene of revolutionary activities of the Joseon Youth Liberation Alliance spearheaded by Seo Hwi-young.[14]

Social philosopher Roman Krznaric suggested in his book Carpe Diem Regained (2017) that carpe diem is the answer to consumer cultures schedules, timed work days, consumer culture and planning out our actions over the course of weeks and the weekends, instead of "just do it", with thought experiments for seizing the day rather than placing into calendars.[15][16]

The song "Carpe Diem" by Joker Out was used to represent Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.[17]

See also

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• When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

References

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1. ^ Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Carmina, Liber I, Carmen XI (in Latin)
2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890). "carpō". An Elementary Latin Dictionary. New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago: American Book Company.
3. ^ "How 'Carpe Diem' Got Lost in Translation" by Chi Luu, JStor Daily, 7 August 2019.
4. ^ Luu, Chi (2019-08-07). "How "Carpe Diem" Got Lost in Translation". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
5. ^ Translation by John Conington, 1882
6. ^ Ackerman, Susan (2005). When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David. Columbia University Press. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-0231132602.
7. ^ Perdue, Leo G. (2009). Scribes, Sages, and Seers: The Sage in the Eastern Mediterranean World: The Sage in the Mediterranean World. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 57. ISBN 978-3525530832.
8. ^ Harrison, Stephen (2012). The Cambridge Companion to Horace. Cambridge University Press. pp. 154, 168. ISBN 978-0-521-83002-7.
9. ^ "De rosis nascentibus" Archived 2007-08-11 at the Wayback Machine in a collection of the works of Virgil under the note Hoc carmen scripsit poeta ignotus (This poem was written by an unknown poet); Bibleotheca Augustana [de], Augsburg University of Applied Sciences
10. ^ "Carpe Diem! How the philosophy of 'seize the day' was hijacked". iNews. 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
11. ^ "YOLO | Definition of YOLO in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
12. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes". American Film Institute. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
13. ^ "Latin verb 'carpo' conjugated". Verbix. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
14. ^ "TV Review: Chicago Typewriter (Spoilers!)". The Kat Cafe. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
15. ^ Macdonald, Fiona. "What it really means to 'Seize the day'". bbc.com. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
16. ^ "Reclaiming carpe diem: How do we really seize the day? by Roman Krznaric, The Guardian, 2 April 2017
17. ^ "Slovenia: Joker Out to premiere 'Carpe Diem' on Saturday night!". eurovision.tv. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

Sources

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• Rohland, R.A. (2022). Carpe Diem. Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-51082-7.

External links

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• Media related to Carpe diem at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of carpe diem at Wiktionary
• Literary interpretation of Horace, Odes 1.11 (Carpe diem) at YouTube

v t e Death and mortality in art
Themes	All flesh is grass Carpe diem Consolatio Danse Macabre Death and the Maiden Lamentation of Christ Macabre Memento mori Mono no aware Sic transit gloria mundi Ubi sunt Personifications of death Vanitas
Forms	Architecture Cenotaph Memorial Tomb Music Funeral march Requiem Poetry Death poem Dirge Elegy Elegiac Pastoral elegy Keening Lament Obituary poetry Threnody Prose Epitaph Funerary text Tragedy Visual arts Calavera Funerary art Cadaver monument Death mask Gravestone Post-mortem photography Wreath Other Mummy
Artwork	Architecture Capela dos Ossos Capuchin Crypt Catacombs of Paris Sedlec Ossuary Skull Chapel Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo Film The Seventh Seal Music Danse macabre Death and Transfiguration Der Tod und das Mädchen Erlkönig Totentanz Painting Et in Arcadia ego Guercino Poussin Death and Fire Death and Life Death and the Maiden Death and the Miser Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May La Calavera Catrina Plague Pyramid of Skulls Roman Widow Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette Sleep and His Half-Brother Death The Ambassadors The Garden of Death The Shadow of Death The Three Ages of Man and Death The Triumph of Death Poetry "And death shall have no dominion" "Because I could not stop for Death" "Erlkönig" "Do not go gentle into that good night" Prose Ars moriendi Bardo Thodol Book of Job Book of the Dead Left Ginza Hamlet's soliloquy The Masque of the Red Death

v t e Time
Key concepts	Past Present Future Eternity
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Chronology History	Astronomical chronology Big History Calendar era Deep time Periodization Regnal year Timeline
Philosophy of time	A series and B series B-theory of time Chronocentrism Duration Endurantism Eternal return Eternalism Event Moving spotlight theory Perdurantism Presentism Temporal finitism Temporal parts The Unreality of Time
Religion Mythology	Ages of Man Destiny Immortality Dreamtime Kāla Time and fate deities Father Time Wheel of time Kalachakra
Human experienceand use of time	Chronemics Generation time Mental chronometry Music tempo time signature Rosy retrospection Tense–aspect–mood Time management Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow
Time in science	Geology Geological time age chron eon epoch era period Geochronology Geological history of Earth Physics Absolute space and time Arrow of time Chronon Coordinate time Instant Proper time Spacetime Theory of relativity Time domain Time translation symmetry Time reversal symmetry Other fields Chronological dating Chronobiology Circadian rhythms Clock reaction Glottochronology Time geography
Related	Leap year Memory Moment Six-hour day Space System time Tempus fugit Time capsule Time immemorial Time travel Time value of money
Category Commons

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International	GND
Other	İslâm Ansiklopedisi

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