Posted by Eugene Volokh: Ars Longa, Vita Brevis: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_31-2009_06_06.shtml#1243788382
I had always assumed that this means something like "art can endure even after an artist's death," and [1]others seem to take the same view. (I had considered and discarded "having a large arse is bad for your life expectancy.") But my father reported to me that the [2]original meaning of the quote -- apparently by [3]Hippocrates, in Seneca's translation -- is something like "There's much to know, and little time to learn it," with "ars" meaning (more or less) skill. What's more, that appears to be at least a common modern meaning, rather than [4]just a historical meaning long abandoned by modern users. And it's always dangerous to use phrases that have multiple meanings, unless the multiplicity of meaning is part of your goal. References 1. http://books.google.com/books?q=%22ars+longa%22+%22art+lasts%22&btnG=Search+Books 2. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/ars-longa-vita-brevis.html 3. http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/aphorisms.mb.txt 4. http://volokh.com/posts/1241805353.shtml _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
