The Old Blog Archive, 2005-2009

Ho bíos brakhús…

Learned lately that the phrase “ars longa, vita brevis” comes from Seneca’s De brevitate vitæ (On the Short Life; I read the translation, of course): “vitam brevem esse, longam artem.” This in turn comes from Greek, from Hippocrates’s Aphorisms: “Ho bíos brakhús, he dè tékhne makré.”

One Response to “Ho bíos brakhús…”

  1. on 20 Feb 2006 at 4:06 amDr Kaihsu Tai

    For the record: Ὁ βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή.