carpe diem

A sundial inscribed carpe diem

Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace (see "Source" section below) that has become an aphorism. It is popularly translated as "seize the day". Carpe literally means "to pick, pluck, pluck off, cull, crop, gather", but Ovid used the word in the sense of, "to enjoy, seize, use, make use of".^[1]

Meaning

In Horace, the phrase is part of the longer Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero – "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future", and the ode says that the future is unforeseen, and that instead one should scale back one's hopes to a brief future, and drink one's wine. This phrase is usually understood against Horace's Epicurean background.^[2]

Related expressions

This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed facts are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (January 2012)

Hebrew

The phrase ?אם לא עכשיו, אימתי "And if not now, when?" (Pirkei Avoth 1:14)

Other Latin

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May, by John William Waterhouse.

An 1898 German postcard, quoting Gaudeamus igitur.

Collige, virgo, rosas [...] ("gather, girl, the roses") appears at the end of the poem De rosis nascentibus^[3] (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 To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.

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 listeners 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.

Similarly, ubi sunt – "where are they [now]?" – invokes transience and meditation on death, but is not an exhortation to action. Compare Dead Poets Society, where a trophy case filled with pictures of long-dead boys ("these boys are now fertilizing daffodils") leads to an invocation of carpe diem.

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.

Horace himself parodies the phrase in another of his poems, 'The town mouse and the country mouse'. He uses the phrase carpe viam meaning 'seize the road' to compare the two different attitudes to life of a person (or in this case, a mouse) living in a city and in the countryside.

Source

Original usage from Odes 1.11, in Latin and English:

Popular culture

John Keating, a character played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society (1989) says, "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." The American Film Institute ranked this line number 95 in its list of the 100 best quotations in American film history,^[5] and the phrase was also the title of a soundtrack in the movie. In the Oscar-winning short Harvie Krumpet, Harvie's empty life is changed completely when he sees the inscription underneath a statue of Horace, prompting him to seize the day and do as he pleases.

Seize the Day is name of a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, from their 2005 album City of Evil. 'Carpe Diem Baby' is name of a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, from their 1997 album ReLoad. 'Carpe Diem' is name of a song by American progressive metalcore band August Burns Red, from their 2011 album Leveler. Carpe Diem is the name of Japanese rock band Aqua Timez's 2011 album, and is the name of a song by punk rock band Green Day. The song A Change of Seasons by Dream Theater also references the concept of Carpe Diem, and quotes the aforementioned painting Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May.

Author Terry Pratchett parodied the phrase in his novel, Carpe Jugulum, which he translated as "go for the throat."

Milton Country Park, near Cambridge, has a cafe called 'Cafe Diem'.

See also

• Memento mori
• Tempus fugit

References

External links

• Media related to Carpe diem at Wikimedia Commons
• The Wiktionary entry for carpe diem
• Carpe Diem Artist Community
• Carpe Diem International Education Website

v d e Time Major concepts Time · Eternity · Arguments for eternity · Immortality Deep time · History · Past · Present · Future · Futures studies Time Portal Measurement and standards Chronometry · UTC · UT · TAI · Second · Minute · Hour · Sidereal time · Solar time · Time zone Clock · Astrarium · History of timekeeping devices · Horology · Marine chronometer · Sundial · Water clock Calendar · Day · Week · Month · Year · Tropical year · Gregorian · Islamic · Julian Intercalation · Leap second · Leap year Chronology Astronomical chronology · Calendar era · Chronicle · Dating methodologies · Geochronology Geologic Time · Geological history · Periodization · Regnal year · Timeline Religion and mythology Dreamtime · Kāla · Kalachakra · Prophecy · Time and fate deities · Wheel of time Philosophy A-series and B-series · B-Theory of time · Causality · Endurantism · Eternal return · Eternalism · Event Perdurantism · Presentism · Temporal finitism · Temporal parts · The Unreality of Time Physical sciences Time in physics · Absolute time and space · Arrow of time · Chronon · Coordinate time Planck epoch · Planck time · Proper time · Spacetime · Theory of relativity Time dilation · Gravitational time dilation · Time domain · T-symmetry Biology Chronobiology · Circadian rhythms Psychology Mental chronometry · Sense of time · Specious present Sociology and anthropology Long Now Foundation · Time discipline · Time use research Economics Time value of money · Time-based currency · Time Banking Related topics Carpe diem · Duration · Hexadecimal time · Metric time · Space · System time · Tempus fugit Time capsule · Time signature · Time travel