In this famous poem about seizing the day (or is it the carp?), Horace cautions us against superstition and trying to divine the future. Instead, he encourages us to be wise and to cut short long-term hopes. Dive into this episode and see if you have what it takes to be an excellent Epicurean, and maybe reduce some of that anxiety you carry around about the days to come.


Ode 1.11 by Horace

You should not ask, it is unholy to know, for me or for you
what end the gods will have given, O Leuconoe, nor Babylonian
calculations attempt. Much better it is whatever will be to endure,
whether more winters Jupiter has allotted or the last,
which now weakens against opposing rocks the sea
Tyrrhenian: be wise, strain your wines, and because of brief life
cut short long-term hopes. While we are speaking, envious will have fled
a lifetime: seize the day, as little as possible trusting the future.

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