Vita brevis, ars longa
Vita brevis, ars longa. (German: 'Life is short, art is long.') is the Latin translation of an aphorism attributed to the Greek doctor Hippocrates (Aph. 1,1). It is handed down in the Corpus Hippocraticum , the texts of which cannot be clearly attributed to Hippocrates himself (see also: Aphorisms (Corpus Hippocraticum) ). In the original it is: Ὁ μὲν βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρά . The term "art" in the translation of τέχνη ( téchne ) or ars in this sentence means something like "teaching", "knowing action-oriented rules", as it is still used today in the "healing art".
The Latin wording is passed down indirectly in the writing De brevitate vitae ('On the brevity of life') (1,1) of the Roman philosopher Seneca :
“Maior pars mortalium, Pauline, de naturae malignitate conqueritur, quod in exiguum aevi gignimur, quod haec tam velociter, tam rapide dati nobis temporis spatia decurrant, adeo ut exceptis admodum paucis ceteros in ipso vitae apparatu vita destituat. Nec huic publico, ut opinantur, malo turba tantum et imprudens vulgus ingemuit; clarorum quoque virorum hic affectus querellas evocavit. Inde illa maximi medicorum exclamatio est: vitam brevem esse, longam artem . ”
“The greater part of the people, Paulinus, complains about the resentment of nature, namely that we are only born for a short lifetime and that the life period given to us expires so quickly and stormily, in such a way that, with the exception of only a few, life abandons the rest in the preparation of life. And it is not only the great mass and the ignorant mob that sighs at this general evil. This feeling has also given rise to complaints from famous men. This includes the exclamation of the greatest doctor that life is short, art is long. "
See also
- the student song Gaudeamus igitur or De brevitate vitae
- the second album by the band The Nice , entitled Ars Longa Vita Brevis bears
source
- ↑ De brevitate vitae, I. (Vicifons)