Here’s another one in our Monthly Latin series. The phrase you see below is just as eternal as any other Latin phrase, and probably known by at least some of you.

But do you know where it originates from? Read on and you will.

Disce ut semper victurus,

vive ut cras moriturus

  Learn as if always going to live; live as if tomorrow going to die.

What a superb sentence that is! Never stop learning, but also, live like it was your last day on earth! That’s being dynamic at its best! The first part of it is employed by many. Studying till late night and early hours with a vigor and determination that may completely set aside the physical needs we also have. Studying one’s whole life. Studying with relentless passion, always wanting to know more with no end to the desire to learn.

The second part is also employed by many of us, especially when we are young and don’t yet have a sense of mortality.  The ability to life fully is most pronounced in the young, but can with the right attitude be carried into adulthood. But it’s not an easy thing to maintain, what with the responsibilities and necessities we face each day. Life may easily become so full of routine that it by and by becomes diluted, even against our best efforts to not letting that happen. There just isn’t enough time - or is there?

The saying is attributed to Saint Edmund of Abingdon who lived in the 13th century. His life was one of self-sacrifice and devotion to others. He would study, meditate and pray and cast all other needs aside - and then nodding off during the lectures he would hold the next day. He later became Archbishop of Canterbury. The sentence is first seen in Isidoro de Sevilla (c. 560-636) though. But no matter who it is attributed to, that sentence speaks volumes! For to be able to combine these two - the sense of immortality and timelessness, and the acute awareness of mortality and the need to make the most of one’s time - can release energies that can transform lives.