Lucretius: Nothing

Lucretius was Roman poet and philosopher. Explore interesting quotes on nothing.
Lucretius: 90   quotes 7   likes

“Therefore death is nothing to us, it matters not one jot, since the nature of the mind is understood to be mortal.”
Nil igitur mors est ad nos neque pertinet hilum, quandoquidem natura animi mortalis habetur.

Book III, lines 830–831 (tr. Rouse)
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)

“Nothing is ever gotten out of nothing by divine power.”
Nullam rem e nihilo gigni divinitus umquam.

Book I, line 150 (tr. Munro)
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)

“A thing therefore never returns to nothing.”
Haud igitur redit ad nihilum res ulla.

Book I, line 248 (tr. Munro)
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)

“But there is nothing sweeter than to dwell in towers that rise
On high, serene and fortified with teachings of the wise,
From which you may peer down upon the others as they stray
This way and that, seeking the path of life, losing their way:
The skirmishing of wits, the scramble for renown, the fight,
Each striving harder than the next, and struggling day and night,
To climb atop a heap of riches and lay claim to might.”

Sed nihil dulcius est, bene quam munita tenere edita doctrina sapientum templa serena, despicere unde queas alios passimque videre errare atque viam palantis quaerere vitae, certare ingenio, contendere nobilitate, noctes atque dies niti praestante labore ad summas emergere opes rerumque potiri.

Book II, lines 7–13 (tr. Stallings)
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)

“Nothing can be produced from nothing.”
Nil posse creari de nihilo<!--nilo?-->.

Nil posse creari
de nihilo.
Book I, lines 156–157 (tr. Munro)
Variant translations:
Nothing can be created from nothing.
Nothing can be created out of nothing.
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)

“For no fact is so simple we believe it at first sight,
And there is nothing that exists so great or marvellous
That over time mankind does not admire it less and less.”

Sed neque tam facilis res ulla est, quin ea primum difficilis magis ad credendum constet, itemque nil adeo magnum neque tam mirabile quicquam, quod non paulatim minuant mirarier omnes.

Book II, lines 1026–1029 (tr. Stallings)
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)