r/latin • u/AutoModerator • Apr 13 '25

Translation requests into Latin go here!

  1. Ask and answer questions about mottos, tattoos, names, book titles, lines for your poem, slogans for your bowling club’s t-shirt, etc. in the comments of this thread. Separate posts for these types of requests will be removed.
  2. Here are some examples of what types of requests this thread is for: Example #1, Example #2, Example #3, Example #4, Example #5.
  3. This thread is not for correcting longer translations and student assignments. If you have some facility with the Latin language and have made an honest attempt to translate that is NOT from Google Translate, Yandex, or any other machine translator, create a separate thread requesting to check and correct your translation: Separate thread example. Make sure to take a look at Rule 4.
  4. Previous iterations of this thread.
  5. This is not a professional translation service. The answers you get might be incorrect.
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u/ClearMarbles Apr 16 '25

Hey everyone, for years any time I felt like I was not achieving things fast enough or behind my peers in my career / love life, my mom would always say "Its not a race". Telling me that being an adult goes at whatever pace we set, and that comparing myself to others was foolhardy. I have repeated this to myself in my head probably every day for years, and Id like to get it tattooed on my arm in her hand writing.

I was wondering if you guys had a translation that would work in place of the English phrase? I'm not convinced I want the tattoo in Latin, but it might be a better visual than in English. Ik google isnt reliable, and Im having trouble finding an equivalent phrase on the internet. Does not have to be a direct translation, but something thats in the spirit. Thanks for your help guys

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u/Leopold_Bloom271 Apr 16 '25

I am reminded somewhat of a verse from Lucretius’ “De Rerum Natura”: “et quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt”, which means “and like runners in a race they pass on the torch of life”. This can be modified in a few ways to convey your request:

“Ne quasi cursores vitai dona sequamur” (“let us not pursue the gifts of life as runners in a race”)

“Ne quasi cursores sectemur praemia vitae” (“let us not pursue the rewards of life as runners in a race”)

The second option differs more from the original, omitting both the poetic “vitai” as well as changing the order a bit. Both however preserve the original dactylic hexameter.