anyway, here it is ... my favourite quote... something I say at least once a day ... or at least it feels that way ... its in my head all the time ... as I'm sure you can figure out, it became my favourite quote after watching the movie Dead Poets Society, which is still one of my favourite movies ... today I felt like digging, so I wanted to try and find out where the phrase actually really came from ... and was quite surprised with the results (and the fact that the search didnt really take all that long) ...
Original usage from Odes 1.11, in Latin and English:
| Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi | Leuconoe, don't ask — it's dangerous to know — |
| finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios | what end the gods will give me or you. Don't play with Babylonian |
| temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati. | fortune-telling either. Better just deal with whatever comes your way. |
| seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam, | Whether you'll see several more winters or whether the last one |
| quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare | Jupiter gives you is the one even now pelting the rocks on the shore with the waves |
| Tyrrhenum: sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi | of the Tyrrhenian sea — be smart, drink your wine. Scale back your long hopes |
| spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida | to a short period. Even as we speak, envious time |
| aetas: carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. | is running away from us. Seize the day, trusting little in the future. |
well, in my mind, the phrase is quite more optimistic ... its not a warning about the impending and inevitable 'doom', but more of the fact, that since we do not know what tomorrow brings, how bout we just use the time that is given to us as best as we possibly can... and instead of not trusting the future, how bout we just don't worry about it all that much, just dream our dreams and live our lives ... but especially, lets try to live our dreams ...
if i forgot to mention it yet, you really should see the movie Dead Poets Society in case you haven't seen it yet ... the complete line in the movie is actually "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." and I must say, if that movie doesn't get you thinking about your life and all the options you are given, I don't know what will ... the next segment is actually from a comment about the movie by just some guy, but since he talks about what I want to say, I'm just going to use his words :)
A powerful antidote to conformism, 22 August 2001 There are certain films that get under your skin, never to come out. They change your life, subtly altering your perceptions of reality, almost always for the better.
Dead Poets Society is one of those few films.
I saw the movie back when I was in High School. I had a teacher who told us that we really needed to watch it; in fact, it was our "homework" for the day. We didn't need to bring back a report, or talk about it in class. All he asked from us was to watch it, make up our own mind about it, and that was it. As you can imagine, many friends of mine didn't watch it at all; I did. And yes, I feel I changed a bit from there on.
Back when you are young, you never really stop to think what in the world you are doing with your life. You simply live for the day, hope your grades will be enough to pass, and that's it. Long term thinking involves maybe flirting with a girl. Nothing more. What this film showed me was that we have the responsability and the joy of being alive in this planet. That we are dust, and we will go back to it, so we have precious little time to make a difference. That we have a moral obligation to "seize the day, and make our lives extraordinary" (my favorite quote in all movie history). That the world, basically is ours. That the only limitations are within ourselves, and that we owe it to us to fight, to rebel against conformity, to change what we hate and keep what we love. That living in this world is a beautiful responsability, and that only cowards dare not to change it for the better.
The fact that the cast was basically my age, and was passing through the same dilemmas and situations I was facing made it all so much more powerful.
So here I sit, 12 years from that day. I still don't think I have seized the day completely. But I keep on trying; I always will. I wonder how many people were transformed by this gem of a movie; I hope many.
10 out of 10. A definitive masterpiece.
in the end, my final 'words of wisdom' : GO WATCH THE MOVIE!!!!
(and in case you can't find it at your local videostore/library, you can always contact me ... I have my own copy and I am prepared to lend it to you, though it will come at a price ;) )
3 comments:
I still feel the same way I did 7 years ago about that movie, by the way!
I came across your blog and say this about DPS. I general concept is good but there was one scene in the movie that I hated. It is when the boy commits suicide after the play. Problem with Carpe Diem is that you live for yourself and once you achieve the best you can achieve, no reason to live any longer. It is far better to live out the idea of love to God, love to your neighbor and love to your enemy. Do this, and you will change the world, not Carpe Diem.
I dont think he lived out the best he could be, though. He had his life in front of him. He acted in a high school play. There is room to grow, and there will always be something to achieve.
Post a Comment