Originally Posted by
Lucretius
(On the nature of 'gods')
“for by necessity the gods above enjoy eternity in highest peace, withdrawn and far removed from our affairs. Free of all sorrow, free of peril, the gods thrive in their own works and need nothing from us, not won with virtuous deeds nor touched by rage.”
(On the false belief in gods)
“Nothing comes supernaturally from nothing. Fear grips all mortal men precisely because they see so many events on the earth, in the sky, whose rational causes they cannot discern- So They suppose it's all the will of the gods. But once we've seen that nothing is made from nothing we'll find our path and see straight through to what we search for: we shall know that things can come to be -and in what manner- without gods.”
(On potential)
“everything can't just spring from anything; inner capacities make things what they are.”
(On human satisfaction)
“How sweet , to watch from the shore the wind-whipped ocean toss someone else's ship in a mighty struggle; not that the man's distress is cause for mirth- Your freedom from those troubles is what's sweet; And sweet, to see great lines of soldiers marshaled in the plains of war, when you are free from peril; But nothing is sweeter than to dwell in the calm temples of truth, the strongholds of the wise. You can, from there, look down upon others wandering randomly, straying, seeking the path of life, warring with all their talent, wrestling for rank, night and day straining with the utmost toil to fight their way to the heights of wealth and power.
O heart of man, how pitiful and blind! In what benightedness with all its perils our time, so short, is squandered! And not to see that our nature yelps after this alone: that the body be free of pain, the mind enjoy the sense of pleasure, far removed from care or fear!”
(On the nature of 'void' and outer space)
“Yet the emptiness of space cannot ever stand firm against anything from any direction – In fact, its nature calls on it to yield.”
(On sound, hearing and echoes)
“Then too, a single word sent from the mouth of the public crier will sting the ears of the people. That shows that a single voice will suddenly disperse into many, dividing with every breeze, stamping ints shape and clarion call with words. But the part of the voice that doesn't find the ears floats past in the wind and perishes in vain; part dashes against a hard place and hurls back its sound, the empty mockery of a word.”
(On monogamy – This one made me think of Terra...)
“Your love's not around, for a change? But still her image is, and her sweet name echoes in your ears. But we ought to flee these shadows and scare off the food of love, and turn our thoughts to another-- Shooting the juice into any available body, not holding it all in for a single lover.”
(On Sex and Love)
“The man who shuns love can enjoy sex still- more!, for the goods come with no penalty.”
(On overly strong love, and orgasm)
“When the massed-up longing at last spurts out of the muscle, there's a lull in the violent blaze (of love) – the briefest lull. But the same madness returns, and the fury too, they long to attain they don't know what, and can't find any trick to master this disease: they waver, and pine away from the hidden wound.”
(On judgment blinded by love)
“And you overlook all of the blemishes of body and mind in her you crave so much. For men are blinded by their appetites and grant their loved ones graces they don't have.”
(On the mortality of the world)
“Since the stuff of earth and water, and the soft breath of the air and the brilliant fire, the four that make this universe, are all composed of bodies that are born and die, we must conclude the world is born, and dies.”
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