Metus Quotes
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‘En Priamus! Sunt hic etiam sua praemia laudi, Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt. Solve metus; feret haec aliquam tibi fama salutem.' Sic ait atque animum pictura pascit inani.
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More Metus Quotes
Et metus ille foras præceps Acheruntis agundus, Funditus humanam qui vitam turbat ab imo, Omnia suffuscans mortis nigrore, neque ullam Esse voluptatem liquidam puramque relinquit.
— The dreadful fear of hell is to be driven out, which disturbs the life of man and renders it miserable, overcasting all things with the blackness of darkness, and leaving no pure, unalloyed pleasure.
— Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, III. 37.
Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae, Pallentesque habitant Morbi tristisque Senectus, Et metus et malesuada Fames ac turpis Egestas, Terribiles visu formae, Letumque Labosque; tum consanguineus Leti Sopor.
virgil— At Orcus' portals hold their lair
Wild Sorrow and avenging Care;
And pale Diseases cluster there,
And pleasureless Decay
Foul Penury, and Fears that kill,
And Hunger, counsellor of ill,
A ghastly presence they:
Suffering and Death the threshold keep,
And with them Death's blood-brother, Sleep.Lines 273–278 (translated by John Conington).Cf. Dryden's translation:
Just in the gate and in the jaws of hell,
Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell,
And pale Diseases, and repining Age,
Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage;
Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep.
Præsente fortuna pejor est futuri metus.
Quintilian— Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune.
— Quintilian, De Institutione Oratoria, XII. 5.
Aurea rumpunt tecta quietem, Vigilesque trahit purpura noctes. O si pateant pectora ditum, Quantos intus sublimis agit Fortuna metus.
— Golden palaces break man's rest, and purple robes cause watchful nights.
— Oh, if the breasts of the rich could be seen into, what terrors high fortune places within!
— Seneca, Hercules Œtæus, 646.
Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae, Pallentesque habitant Morbi tristisque Senectus, Et metus et malesuada Fames ac turpis Egestas, Terribiles visu formae, Letumque Labosque; tum consanguineus Leti Sopor.
— Cf. Dryden's translation:
Just in the gate and in the jaws of hell,
Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell,
And pale Diseases, and repining Age,
Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage;
Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep.
‘En Priamus! Sunt hic etiam sua praemia laudi, Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt. Solve metus; feret haec aliquam tibi fama salutem.' Sic ait atque animum pictura pascit inani.
— 'See Priam! aye, praise waits on worth
E'en in this corner of the earth;
E'en here the tear of pity springs,
And hearts are touched by human things.
Dismiss your fear: we sure may claim
To find some safety in our fame.'
He said; and feeds his hungry heart
With shapes of unsubstantial art.
— Lines 461–464 (translated by John Conington).
