Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus; vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis
“While you may, live happily among pleasant things; live mindful of how brief your life is.”
Horace, Satires 2.6
What does “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus; vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis” mean?
Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus; vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis translates as “While you may, live happily among pleasant things; live mindful of how brief your life is.”
Enjoy the good things of life while you can, precisely because life is short. Horace pairs pleasure with awareness of mortality, so that enjoyment becomes wise rather than careless.
“Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive …” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Dum | while | conjunction; introduces a time clause, here with a sense of “as long as” |
| licet | it is allowed, you may | third person singular present of liceo, “to be permitted”; an impersonal verb, so “it is allowed” |
| in | among, amid | preposition taking the ablative |
| rebus | things | ablative plural of res, “thing, matter” |
| iucundis | pleasant | ablative plural (dative and ablative plural look the same) of the adjective iucundus; agrees with rebus |
| vive | live! | command (imperative) of vivo, “to live”; addressed to one person |
| beatus | happy, blessed | nominative singular masculine of beatus; agrees with the unstated “you” |
| vive | live! | command (imperative) of vivo, “to live”; repeated for emphasis |
| memor | mindful | nominative singular of memor, “remembering, mindful”; agrees with the unstated “you” |
| quam | how | adverb; introduces an indirect question, “how (brief)” |
| sis | you are | second person singular present subjunctive of sum, “to be”; the subjunctive is used in an indirect question |
| aevi | of life, of lifetime | genitive singular of aevum, “lifetime, age” |
| brevis | brief, short | nominative singular of brevis; agrees with the unstated “you”, so “how short-lived you are” |
How to pronounce “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive …”
The main differences: classical v is a w sound and ae sounds like “eye”, while church Latin uses v as in English, ae as “eh” and c in licet as “ch”. The i in brevis is short in classical Latin and a clear “ee” in church Latin.
The story behind it
Word for word the line says “While it is allowed, live happy among pleasant things; live mindful of how short-lived you are”. It joins an invitation to enjoy life with a reminder that life is short.
The lines come from Horace’s Satires 2.6, in the fable of the town mouse and the country mouse. The town mouse urges his simple country cousin to leave the farm and enjoy the pleasures of the city.
The fable gives the advice a slightly ironic edge, since the town mouse is the one speaking, and the visit ends badly for the country mouse. Read on its own, the line is a graceful statement of the Epicurean idea that awareness of death makes pleasure more precious.
How to use “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive …”
A fitting line for a birthday card, a toast, a café chalkboard or a tattoo for someone who wants to combine enjoyment with perspective. It also suits an essay on Horace, on the fable of the two mice, or on Roman attitudes to pleasure and mortality.
- Latin
- Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus; vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis
- English
- While you may, live happily among pleasant things; live mindful of how brief your life is.
- Source
- Horace, Satires 2.6
- Era
- Classical
- Theme
- Life
Common mistakes
- It is not a call to reckless indulgence. The second half, “live mindful of how brief your life is”, is part of the message.
- The words come from a fable spoken by the town mouse, not from Horace speaking in his own voice. Quoting them as Horace’s personal creed oversimplifies the context.
- Quoted from the poem, the line has a semicolon and two commands. Shortening it to “vive beatus” loses the point about mortality.
- To address several people, vive and memor must change to vivite and memores, and sis to sitis. Beatus would also need to become beati.
Questions about “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive …”
What does “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus” mean literally?
“While it is allowed, live happy among pleasant things.” The second line adds: “live mindful of how brief your life is.”
Who said “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus”?
The Roman poet Horace wrote it in his Satires 2.6. It is spoken by the town mouse in the fable of the two mice.
How do you pronounce “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus”?
In classical Latin: doom LIH-ket in RAY-boos yoo-KOON-dees WEE-weh beh-AH-toos. In church Latin the c in licet is “ch” and v is pronounced as in English.
Is this a good Latin quote for a tattoo?
The Latin is genuine and correct, but it is long. If you want it shorter, the first line alone, “Dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus”, works as a complete sentence.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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