View source for Ars longa, vita brevis

{{short description|Latin translation of a Greek aphorism}}
{{distinguish|Ars Longa Vita Brevis (album)}}
{{distinguish-redirect|Life is short|Life is short (song)|Life is short (episode)}}
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[[File:Altes Rathaus Göttingen 20110802-14.JPG|thumb|[[Mural]] at the {{Interlanguage link multi|Old Town Hall (Göttingen)|de|3=Altes Rathaus (Göttingen)}} in Germany.|218x218px]]
{{lang|la|'''Ars longa, vita brevis'''}} is a [[Latin]] translation of an [[aphorism]] coming originally from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]. It roughly translates to "skillfulness takes time and life is short".

The aphorism quotes the first two lines of the [[s:Aphorisms|Aphorisms]] by the [[ancient Greek]] physician [[Hippocrates]]: "{{lang|grc|Ὁ βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή}}". The familiar Latin translation {{lang|la|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.

{| style="width:75%"
|-
| '''Greek:'''<ref name="Greek text" />||'''[[Romanization of Greek|Romanized]]'''
|-
|
{{lang|grc|
:Ὁ βίος βραχύς,
:ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή,
:ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξύς,
:ἡ δὲ πεῖρα σφαλερή,
:ἡ δὲ κρίσις χαλεπή.
}}
|
:''Ho bíos brakhús,''
:''hē dè tékhnē makrḗ,''
:''ho dè kairòs oxús,''
:''hē dè peîra sphalerḗ,''
:''hē dè krísis khalepḗ.''
|-
| '''Latin:'''||'''English:'''<ref name="English text"/>
|-
|
:''Vīta brevis,''
:''ars longa,''
:''occāsiō praeceps,''
:''experīmentum perīculōsum,''
:''iūdicium difficile.''
|
:Life is short,
:and craft long,
:opportunity fleeting,
:experimentations perilous,
:and judgment difficult.
|}

== Interpretation ==
Despite the common usage of the Latin version, ''Ars longa, vita brevis'', the usage caveat is about the Greek original that contains the word '''tékhnē''' (''technique'' and ''craft'') that is translated as the Latin ''ars'' (art) as in the usage ''[[The Art of War]]''. The authorship of the aphorism is ascribed to the physician [[Hippocrates]], as the preface of his medical text: “The physician must not only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and externals cooperate”.<ref name="martin">{{cite web |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/ars-longa-vita-brevis.html |title=Ars longa, vita brevis |work=The Phrase Finder |author=Gary Martin}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ars%20longa,%20vita%20brevis |title=Ars longa, vita brevis definition|work=Merriam-Webster}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2020}}

== In academia ==
The phrase was used as the title of the dissertation of [[James Morris Whiton]], who, in 1861, was one of the first three men to earn a PhD from an American university.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rosenberg |first=Ralph P. |date=October 1961 |title=The First American Doctor of Philosophy Degree: A Centennial Salute to Yale, 1861–1961 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00221546.1961.11773412 |journal=The Journal of Higher Education |language=en |volume=32 |issue=7 |pages=387–394 |doi=10.1080/00221546.1961.11773412 |issn=0022-1546|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Similar sayings ==
The late-medieval author [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]] ({{circa|1343}}–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]]).<ref>{{cite wikisource |first=Geoffrey |last=Chaucer |authorlink=Geoffrey Chaucer |year=1380s |title=The Parliament of Fowles}}</ref> The first-century CE [[rabbi]] [[Tarfon]] is quoted as saying "The day is short, the labor vast, the workers are lazy, the reward great, the Master urgent." ([[Pirkei Avot|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.

In 1890, Ariel, a London illustrated newspaper, announced a great national cycling song competition. [[Frederic Hymen Cowen|Frederic Cowen]] was chosen to adjudicate the competiton, which received no less than 304 entries. The winner was a song composed by Mr C. Francis Lloyd, of South Shields, and the title of his composition was Vita Brevis Ars Longa.<ref>Newcastle Daily Chronicle, Thu 4 Sep 1890 p. 4</ref>

==See also==
*[[Bounded rationality]]
*[[Parallelism (rhetoric)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Greek text">{{cite book|title=Oeuvres complètes d'Hippocrate|publisher=Hakkert|author=Hippocrates|chapter=Aphorismi|editor=Emile Littré|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0250:text=Aph.}}</ref>
<ref name="English text">{{cite book|title=The Genuine Works of Hippocrates|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0248%3atext%3dAph.|author=Hippocrates|editor=Francis Adams|chapter=Aphorismi}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ars Longa, Vita Brevis}}
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek medicine]]
[[Category:Catchphrases]]