The Brevity and Uncertainty of Life

Disticha qui scribit, puto, vult brevitate piacere. Quid prodest brevitas, dic mihi, si liber est? He who writes distichs wishes, I imagine, to please by brevity. What is the use of brevity, tell me, if it constitute a book? Chi scrive distici, io penso che per brevità vuol piacere. Ma che giova esser breve, se poi ne fai un volume?

Martial, Epigrams, Book 8, XXIX
English translation by Walter C. A. Ker
Italian translation by Giuseppe Lipparini

A picture taken on November 20, 2018 shows newborn giraffe Ella and her mother Amalka at their enclosure at Berlin’s Tierpark Zoo. Photo: AFP/Paul Zinken.