Dianna Frid, Be Made of Laughing Particles, (paper, paint, graphite, embroidery floss on canvas, and colored pencils), 2013 ["Surely a man can laugh and not be made of laughing particles", a line from Lucretius' De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), from the translation by Rolfe Humphries] [© Dianna Frid]

O miseras hominum mentes, o pectora caeca! qualibus in tenebris vitae quantisque periclis degitur hoc aevi quod cumquest! nonne videre nihil aliud sibi naturam latrare, nisi ut qui corpore seiunctus dolor absit, mente fruatur iucundo sensu cura semota metuque?

Such pitiable human minds of men, such limited views! In what gloom of life, in how great perils is passed Your poor span of time! not to see that all nature cries out for is this, that pain be taken from the body, and that the mind, kept far from worries and fear, instead experience joy!

—Titus Lucretius Carus, De Rerum natura lib ii, lines 14-19 (70 BCE)

[Robert Scott Horton]

A Hymn to Epicurus

Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 3.1-13 You who first were able, out of such great darkness, To lift a light so bright, illuminating life’s good things, You it is I follow, o glory of the Greek people, And in the marks you’ve pressed I now place the fashioned Traces of my feet – not so much desirous Of vying with you, no, but rather out of love That I desire to imitate you; for how could a swallow compete With swans, or what could kids, with their shaky joints, Be able to do in a race like a horse’s mighty power? You, father, are the discoverer of things, You supply to us our ancestral precepts; from Your writings, famous one, as bees in flowering glades Taste of all things, in like fashion we ourselves devour All your golden sayings – golden, ever worthiest Of life that never ends. E tenebris tantis tam clarum extollere lumen qui primus potuisti inlustrans commoda vitae, te sequor, o Graiae gentis decus, inque tuis nunc ficta pedum pono pressis vestigia signis, non ita certandi cupidus quam propter amorem quod te imitari aveo; quid enim contendat hirundo cycnis, aut quid nam tremulis facere artubus haedi consimile in cursu possint et fortis equi vis? tu, pater, es rerum inventor, tu patria nobis suppeditas praecepta, tuisque ex, inclute, chartis, floriferis ut apes in saltibus omnia libant, omnia nos itidem depascimur aurea dicta, aurea, perpetua semper dignissima vita.

Bust of Epicurus of Samos (342-270 BCE), founder of the Epicurean school of philosophy (the Garden), from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Roman copy after a third century BCE Greek original. Now in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Photo credit: Sailko/Wikimedia Commons.

"Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum

To such heights of evil are men driven by religion.”

-- Lucretius, c.99 BC - 55 BC

🟣 Titus Lucretius Carus / Lucretius / Philosophy #Lucretius #Philosophy

"TO NONE IS LIFE GIVEN IN FREEHOLD; TO ALL ON LEASE."

LUCRETIUS TITUS LUCRETIUS CARUS WAS A ROMAN POET AND PHILOSOPHER.

After Lucretius dedicated THE Epicurean poem to him, how could Gaius Memmius do THAT (try to tear down the old house of Epicurus in Athens)? I will not forgive him.

It must not be supposed that atoms of every sort can be linked in every variety of combination. If that were so, you would see monsters coming into being everywhere. Hybrid growths of man and beast would arise. Lofty branches would spread here and there from a living body. Limbs of land-beast and sea-beast would often be conjoined. Chimeras breathing flame through hideous jaws would be reared by nature throughout the all-generating earth.

Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe

Lucretius – De rerum natura, IV, 1058-1120: «Volnus caecus»

— Haec Venus est nobis; hinc autemst nomen Amoris, hinc illaec primum Veneris dulcedinis in cor stillavit gutta et successit frigida cura; nam si abest quod ames, praesto simulacra tamen sunt illius et nomen dulce obversatur ad auris.

sed fugitare decet simulacra et pabula amoris absterrere sibi atque alio convertere mentem et iacere umorem coniectum in corpora quaeque nec retinere semel conversum unius amore et servare sibi curam certumque dolorem; ulcus enim vivescit et inveterascit alendo inque dies gliscit furor atque aerumna gravescit, si non prima novis conturbes volnera plagis volgivagaque vagus Venere ante recentia cures aut alio possis animi traducere motus. Nec Veneris fructu caret is qui vitat amorem, sed potius quae sunt sine poena commoda sumit; nam certe purast sanis magis inde voluptas quam miseris; etenim potiundi tempore in ipso fluctuat incertis erroribus ardor amantum nec constat quid primum oculis manibusque fruantur. quod petiere, premunt arte faciuntque dolorem corporis et dentes inlidunt saepe labellis osculaque adfigunt, quia non est pura voluptas et stimuli subsunt, qui instigant laedere id ipsum, quod cumque est, rabies unde illaec germina surgunt. sed leviter poenas frangit Venus inter amorem blandaque refrenat morsus admixta voluptas. namque in eo spes est, unde est ardoris origo, restingui quoque posse ab eodem corpore flammam. quod fieri contra totum natura repugnat; unaque res haec est, cuius quam plurima habemus, tam magis ardescit dira cuppedine pectus. nam cibus atque umor membris adsumitur intus; quae quoniam certas possunt obsidere partis, hoc facile expletur laticum frugumque cupido. ex hominis vero facie pulchroque colore nil datur in corpus praeter simulacra fruendum tenvia; quae vento spes raptast saepe misella. ut bibere in somnis sitiens quom quaerit et umor non datur, ardorem qui membris stinguere possit, sed laticum simulacra petit frustraque laborat in medioque sitit torrenti flumine potans, sic in amore Venus simulacris ludit amantis, nec satiare queunt spectando corpora coram nec manibus quicquam teneris abradere membris possunt errantes incerti corpore toto. denique cum membris conlatis flore fruuntur aetatis, iam cum praesagit gaudia corpus atque in eost Venus ut muliebria conserat arva, adfigunt avide corpus iunguntque salivas oris et inspirant pressantes dentibus ora, ne quiquam, quoniam nihil inde abradere possunt nec penetrare et abire in corpus corpore toto; nam facere inter dum velle et certare videntur. usque adeo cupide in Veneris compagibus haerent, membra voluptatis dum vi labefacta liquescunt. tandem ubi se erupit nervis coniecta cupido, parva fit ardoris violenti pausa parumper. inde redit rabies eadem et furor ille revisit, cum sibi quod cupiant ipsi contingere quaerunt, nec reperire malum id possunt quae machina vincat. usque adeo incerti tabescunt volnere caeco.

[HIS] Al poseerse, los amantes dudan. No saben ordenar sus deseos. Se estrechan con violencia, se hacen sufrir, se muerden con los dientes los labios, con caricias y besos se martirizan. Y ello porque no es puro su placer, porque un oculto aguijón los impulsa a herir al ser amado, a destruir la causa de su dolorosa pasión. Y es que el amor espera siempre que el mismo objeto que encendió la llama que lo devora, sea capaz de sofocarla. Pero no es así. No. Cuanto más poseemos, más arde nuestro pecho y más se consume. Los alimentos sólidos, las bebidas que nos permiten seguir vivos, ocupan sitios fijos en nuestro cuerpo una vez ingeridos, y así es fácil apagar el deseo de beber y comer. Pero de un bello rostro, de una piel suave, nada se deposita en nuestro cuerpo, nada llega a entrar en nosotros salvo imágenes, impalpables y vanos simulacros, miserable esperanza que muy pronto se desvanece. Semejantes al hombre que, en sueños, quiere apagar su sed y no encuentra agua para extinguirla, y persigue simulacros de manantiales, y se fatiga en vano, y permanece sediento, y sufre viendo que el río que parece estar a su alcance huye y huye más lejos, así son los amantes, juguetes en el amor de los simulacros de Venus. No basta la visión del cuerpo deseado para satisfacerlos, ni siquiera la posesión, pues nunca logran desprender ni un ápice de esas graciosas formas sobre las que discurren, vagabundas y erráticas, sus caricias. Al fin, cuando, los miembros pegados saborean la flor de su placer, piensan que su pasión será colmada, y estrechan codiciosamente el cuerpo de su amante, mezclando aliento y saliva, con los dientes contra su boca, con los ojos inundando sus ojos, y se abrazan una y mil veces hasta hacerse daño. Pero todo es inútil, vano esfuerzo, porque no pueden robar nada de ese cuerpo que abrazan, ni penetrarse y confundirse enteramente cuerpo con cuerpo, que es lo único que verdaderamente desean: tanta pasión inútil ponen en adherirse a los lazos de Venus, mientras sus miembros parecen confundirse, rendidos por el placer. Y después, cuando ya el deseo, condensado en sus venas, ha desaparecido, el fuego interrumpe su llama por un instante, y luego vuelve un nuevo acceso de furor y renace la hoguera con más vigor que antes. Y es que ellos mismos saben que no saben lo que desean, y, al mismo tiempo, buscan cómo saciar ese deseo que los consume, sin que puedan hallar remedio para su enfermedad mortal: hasta tal punto ignoran dónde se oculta la secreta herida que los corroe.

"Men are eager to tread underfoot what they have once too much feared."---Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus), Roman philosopher, 1st century BC

“Men are eager to tread underfoot what they have once too much feared.”—Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus), Roman philosopher, 1st century BC

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When human life, a shame to human eyes, lay sprawling in the mire in foul estate, a cowering thing without the strength to rise, held down by fell Religion's heavy weight — Religion scowling downward from the skies, with hideous head, and vigilant eyes of hate — First did a man of Greece presume to raise his brows and give the monster gaze for gaze.

Him not the tales of all the Gods in heaven, nor the heaven's lightnings nor the menacing roar of thunder daunted. He was only driven by these vain vauntings to desire the more to burst through Nature's gates and rive the unriven bars.

And he gained the day; and, conqueror, his spirit broke beyond our world and past its flaming walls, and fathomed all the vast. And back returning, crowned with victory, he divulged of things the hidden mysteries, laying quite bare what can and cannot be, how to each force is set strong boundaries, how no power raves unchained; and now Religion lies trampled by us; and unto us 't is given fearless with level gaze to scan the heaven.

Yet fear I lest thou haply deem that thus we sin and enter wicked ways of reason. Whereas 'gainst all things good and beauteous 't is oft Religion does the foulest treason.

Has not the tale of Aulis come to us and those great chiefs who, in the windless season, bade young Iphianassa's form be laid upon the altar of the Trivian maid?

Soon as the fillet round her virgin hair fell in its equal lengths down either cheek, — Soon as she saw her father standing there, sad, by the altar, without power to speak, and at his side the murderous minister, hiding the knife, and many a faithful Greek weeping — her knees grew weak, and with no sound she sank, in speechless terror, on the ground.

But naught availed it in that hour accurst to save the maid from such a doom as this, that her lips were the baby lips that first called the King father with their cries and kiss.

For round her came the strong men, and none durst refuse to do what cruel part was his; so silently they raised her up, and bore her all quivering, to the deadly shrine before her.

And as they bore her, ne'er a golden lyre rang round her coming with a bridal strain; but in the very season of desire, a stainless maiden, amid bloody stain she died — a victim felled by its own sire — That so the ships the wisht-for winds might gain and air puff out their canvas.

Learn thou, then, to what damned deeds Religion urges men.

Freedom of Thought - by William Hurrell Mallock, originally by Titus Lucretius Carus, Roman poet and philosopher.

Upon reflecting on my recent ban, I have come to accept a new religion grips the throat of man, one of the worship of the state and the absurd, one that wishes nothing more than to turn clowns into rulers and silence those who speak out against the illiberal ways the world is ran.

This site is a haven for the most depraved and debauched of fanatics, and those who run it are bent on running any and all out who show modicum of clear and sane rationale, you use medical terms and it is deemed hate speech, you post sourced and cited research that goes against the collective and you are labeled a sinner, you even allude to the fact you are white or straight you get mass reported by a gaggle of sycophants.

The Left is a Cathedral and we must strike down its foundations, why do I say this? Because I am a Liberal, and Liberalism is not conducive with censorship.

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on four foundational rights, that of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law. 

From these four foundational rights the other rights under liberalism can be derived, those being private property, market economies, individual rights, including civil rights and human rights, liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion and the right to the defense of self and property.

The Left is anathema to Liberalism, as the Left is made up of Socialist and other revolutionary ideological frameworks, while Liberalism spawned Libertarianism and Conservatism.

Anyway, this has been my post ban vent post.

From: Titus Lucretius Carus, De rerum natura / Of the Nature of Things, translated into English verse by William Ellery Leonard, with an introduction by Charles E. Bennett, illustrated with wood-engravings by Paul Landacre, Printed for the members of the Limited Editions Club at the Ward Ritchie Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1957 [Special Collections and Archives, University of Missouri Libraries, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO]

Quo magis in dubiis hominem spectare periclis convenit adversisque in rebus noscere qui sit; nam very voces tum demum pectore ab imo eliciuntur et eripitur persona, manet res.

So it is more useful to watch a man in times of peril, and in adversity to discern what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn from the depths of his heart, and the mask is torn off, reality remains.

—Titus Lucretius Carus, De Rerum natura, lib iii, lines 55–58 (c 60 BCE) 

[Robert Scott Horton]

Speaking of my personal feelings and preferences.

Lord Astarion is my food and cure when he says "hedonistic debauchery".

"What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others". -- An phrase attributed to Titus Lucretius Carus.

𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐫, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨

1075 "[...] Nam certe purast sanis magis inde voluptas

quam miseris. Etenim potiundi tempore in ipso

fluctuant incertis erroribus ardor amantum

nec constat quid primum oculis manibusque fruantur.

Quod periere, premunt arte faciuntque dolorem

1080 corporis et dentis inlidunt saepe labellis

osculaque adfligunt, quia non est pura voluptas

et stimuli subsunt qui instigant laedere id ipsum

quodcumque est, rabies unde illaec germina surgunt.

Sed levior poenas frangit Venus inter amorem

1085 blandaque refrenat morsus admixta voluptas."

...

1075 "[...] Voluptuousness is more clear to the wise than to the foolish wretches.

In fact, right at the moment of full possession,

the ardor of lovers fluctuates in uncertain waves

who do not know what to first enjoy with their eyes and hands.

They press tight the creature they desire, inflict pain

1080 to her body, and often bite the tender lips to blood,

they nail her with kisses, for pleasure is not pure,

and there are dark impulses that push to tear the object,

whatever it is, from which the germs of that fury arise.

It hardly attenuates the torment Venus in the act of love,

1085 mitigates the bite, to which it is mixed, the joy of the senses."

Titus Lucretius Carus, vv. 1075-1085, De Rerum Natura IV liber.

Shakespeare's treatment of love & marriage, and other essays by C. H. Herford 

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69468

Author

Herford, C. H. (Charles Harold), 1853-1931

LoC No.

22002539

Title   Shakespeare's treatment of love & marriage, and other essays

Alternate Title  Shakespeare's treatment of love and marriage, and other essays

Original PublicationUK: T.F. Unwin ltd,1921.

Contents   Shakespeare's treatment of love and marriage -- The poetry of Lucretius -- Mountain scenery in Keats -- Gabriele D'Annunzio -- Is there a poetic view of the world?

Credits  Tim Lindell, Turgut Dincer, Eleni Christofaki and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

(This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

Language   English

LoC Class

PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections

Subject

Keats, John, 1795-1821

Subject

Poetry -- History and criticism

Subject

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Political and social views

Subject

Lucretius Carus, Titus

Subject

Love in literature

Subject

D'Annunzio, Gabriele, 1863-1938

Category         Text

EBook-No.69468

Release Date    Dec 4, 2022

Copyright Status     Public domain in the USA.

Omg, am I the only one who just realized that Angel telling Ramiro "You can't change the nature of things" wasn't just about him being a cheating asshole but it was also a clue about how characters can't help but being attracted to the people they love outside the simulation?

Hello anon, thanks for your message! :)

Good observation and interpretation on your behalf, I definitely agree. However, I believe this statement can be construed in a broader sense, even in regards to the show's superordinate theme.

It might be an intended allusion to the scripture "De rerum natura" / "On the nature of things" by roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus.

Lucretius has atheistically positioned himself against the belief in higher entities controlling humankind, a very mordern and therefore rejected notion at the time. Apparently he has tried to convince the Romans that "[...] no gods, but coincidence rules the world" and gods may exist, but on the same level as other living beings. Everything is formed from the same primal elements.

These might be clues for the overall operating principle and theme of this show and I think it might be helpful to have a deeper look into this.