''Ars longa, vita brevis'' is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

translation of an

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by ...

coming originally from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, roughly meaning, "skilfulness takes time and life is short". The aphorism quotes the first two lines of the ''Aphorismi'' by the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

physician

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...

. The familiar Latin translation ''Ars longa, vita brevis'' reverses the order of the original lines, but can express the same principle.

Translations

The original text, a standard Latin translation, and an English translation from the Greek follow.

Interpretation

The most common and significant caveat made regarding the saying is that "art" ( la, ars, translating grc, τέχνη tékhnē) originally meant "technique, craft" (as in ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...

''), not "fine art". Hippocrates was a physician who made this the opening statement in a medical text. The lines which follow: "The physician must not only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and externals cooperate." Thus in plainer language "it takes a long time to acquire and perfect one's expertise (in, say, medicine) and one has but a short time in which to do it". More generally, it may also refer to how time limits our accomplishments in life.

Similar sayings

The late-medieval author

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

(–1400) observed "The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne" ("The life so short, the craft so long to learn", the first line of the

Parlement of Foules The ''Parlement of Foules'' (modernized: ''Parliament of Fowls''), also called the ''Parlement of Briddes'' (''Parliament of Birds'') or the ''Assemble of Foules'' (''Assembly of Fowls''), is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343?–1400) made up ...

). The first-century CE

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Tarfon Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon ( he, רבי טרפון, from the Greek Τρύφων ''Tryphon''), a Kohen, was a member of the third generation of the Mishnah sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE) and the f ...

is quoted as saying "The day is short, the labor vast, the workers are lazy, the reward great, the Master urgent." ( Avot 2:15) A light-hearted version in England, thought to have originated in Shropshire, is the pun "Bars longa, vita brevis" i.e. so many bars (or pubs) to visit, in so short a life.

Sheffield Medical School

The motto of the

Sheffield Medical School The University of Sheffield Medical School is a Medical school (United Kingdom), medical school based at the University of Sheffield in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The school traces its history back to at least 1828. It operated independe ...

is "Ars longa, vita brevis".

References

External links