Carpe diem is a famous Latin quote taken from book 1 of Odes by the Roman poet Horace / Quintus Horatius Flaccus. It translates as “seize the day”. It features as part of the longer phrase carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero “Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)”. It employs the second-person singular present active imperative form (carpe) of the verb carpō “pick or pluck” (used in this context to mean “enjoy, seize, use, make use of”), and the accusative (diem) of dies “day”. A more literal translation would be “pluck the day [as it is ripe]”, yet it is normally translated as “seize the day”, which has a better flow with two strong elongated vowels [sEEz the dAY], most faithful to the untranslatable Roman poetic floridity. Latin was a great classical language of civilisation, literature, intellect, culture, and also very importantly of pleasure. The ancient Romans lived to live well, and the essence of carpe diem nods poetically to this aspect of their culture, Horace seeking to perpetuate this cycle for eternity and even extending an eternal invitation to their enemies beyond the boundaries of Rome. More on the Latin language here.
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