Lucretius Quotes
Titus Lucretius Carus was a 1st-century BC Roman poet and Epicurean philosopher, known for his sole surviving work, the long Latin poem De Rerum Natura, On the Nature of Things. Composed in six books of dactylic hexameter, the poem expounds Epicurean physics, atomism, the mortality of the soul, the gods' indifference to human affairs, and the path to a tranquil life through correct understanding of the natural world. The quotes below are attributed to Lucretius, organized by topic.
Lucretius on Death
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death is not, and when death is, we are not.”
Lucretius on God
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“So great is the power of religion to incite to evil deeds.”
Lucretius on Happiness
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“Pleasant it is, when over a great sea the winds trouble the waters, to gaze from shore upon another's tribulation.”
Lucretius on Life
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“Life is one long struggle in the dark.”
Lucretius on Mind
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“The mind craves what it lacks, and ignores what it has.”
Lucretius on Nature
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“From nothing, nothing comes.”
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“What is food to one, is to others bitter poison.”
Lucretius on Time
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Attributed to Lucretius:
“Constant dripping hollows out a stone.”