Inspirational Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful

[heirtothewind]

Spoken by Annette Funicello, a talented entertainer stricken with multiple sclerosis, now in a wheelchair.

Vitae sine cura esse non necesse est ut beata sit.

I am sure someone has a better translation. Thanks.

 

[Pacifica]

If you correct vitae, which is in the wrong case, to vitam, your translation makes sense, although I'm not sure beata and "wonderful" really express the same sentiment.

Before reading your post, my first idea for translating the thread title was non est necesse vitam emendatam esse ut mirabilis sit. But now I'm starting to think that if "wonderful" means more or less the same as "beautiful" there, you might use pulchra rather than mirabilis.

One thing that may also be discussed is whether emendatus, a, um works fine in this context or if it's better to use a periphrasis like the one you used or vitiorum expertem esse or still something else along those lines.

 

[heirtothewind]

Spoken by Annette Funicello, a talented entertainer stricken with multiple sclerosis, now in a wheelchair.

Vitae sine cura esse non necesse est ut beata sit.

I am sure someone has a better translation. Thanks.

I think she meant by ''wonderful'' was ''to be happy.'' On another thread of mine [Happiness requires only three things...], a member pointed out that '''happiness'' in life is best rendered vita beata. I think she mean by ''perfect' was ''havng no difficulty.''

 

[Tomer]

Non est necesse vitam facillimam esse ut beatus sis

It seems to me this one may convey more of the idea you mentioned last, though being somewhat different in composition from the original.

 

[heirtothewind]

Non est necesse vitam facillimam esse ut beatus sis

It seems to me this one may convey more of the idea you mentioned last, though being somewhat different in composition from the original.

How did you and Pacis puella get to be so good in Latin composition? Can you recommend a book?

 

[Pacifica]

How did you and Pacis puella get to be so good in Latin composition? Can you recommend a book?

Once you know the basics, reading original Latin works is the best way to get a real feel for the language.

 

[Tomer]

I got "good" at Latin (as do many here, I believe) chiefly because Pacis Puella and Imber Ranae helped me a great deal. Plus, I might as well expand PP's remark and say it applies to any language, albeit even more so to a "dead" language, i.e. our beloved Latin.

 

[Pacifica]

I got "good" at Latin (as do many here, I believe) chiefly because Pacis Puella and Imber Ranae helped me a great deal.

I'm certainly indebted to Imber Ranae and Aurifex, along with a few others who were on this forum when I arrived with a rather basic knowledge and virtually no practice. But I don't think they could have worked that great a miracle on me if I hadn't also read by myself.

Plus, I might as well expand PP's remark and say it applies to any language, albeit even more so to a "dead" language, i.e. our beloved Latin.

Let's say that exchange with native speakers in general is the best way to get a real feel for a language, and that in the case of Latin, reading the works we have is actually the only kind of (post mortem) exchange you can possibly have with them.

 

[Tomer]

Yep, love and devotion, or better yet, Peace & Love.

 

[Aurifex]

But I don't think they could have worked that great a miracle on me if I hadn't also read by myself.

People may have cleared the odd thing up for you in the early days, but you never really needed our help; you'd have got round to reading what you needed to know soon enough on your own.

By your own efforts you've achieved something remarkable. All that's left is for you to develop a taste for poetry. All right, I'm (half) joking on that last point.

 

[Pacifica]

People may have cleared the odd thing up for you in the early days, but you never really needed our help; you'd have got round to reading what you needed to know soon enough on your own.

Mmm... maybe, or maybe not. Or maybe yes, but it would have taken more time.

All that's left is for you to develop a taste for poetry. All right, I'm (half) joking on that last point.

Maybe one day, but I don't know... it just looks so... kind of mathematical. Not the kind of thing that especially appeals to me at first sight. I've never been good at maths.

 

[Abbatiſſæ Scriptor]

non est necesse vitam emendatam esse ut mirabilis sit.

I think 'mirabilis' hits the mark, but have doubts about 'emendatam', which feels like it might mean 'corrected'.

 

[Aurifex]

it just looks so... kind of mathematical. Not the kind of thing that especially appeals to me at first sight. I've never been good at maths.

Being good at maths won't go far in helping help you read and appreciate Latin poetry (or any poetry, for that matter). You may be able to analyse and understand the "numbers" all you'd like, but the poetry may hide its eloquence from you nonetheless.

 

[heirtothewind]

Beginning Latin Poetry Reader [Betts]-

http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Latin-Poetry-Reader-Selections/dp/0071458859/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433349247&sr=1-1&keywords=beginning+latin+poetry+betts

 

[Pacifica]

Thing is, I can read poetry very well without knowing anything about meter, and I'm not sure what benefit I'd really get if I put the effort necessary to learn all those Rubick's-cube-like rules of putting as many heavy or light syllables in such and such a way. Apart from looking more intelligent because I can tell that this is a hexameter and that is a pentameter. Perhaps I would also be supposed to discover some beauty in it, I guess... And I would need it if I were to write poetry myself, but being a person utterly devoid of creativity, I don't see what I'd write in the first place.

 

[Godmy]

One practical thing that metric reading does is that it usually removes completely the first declension singular nominative-ablative ambiguity And sometimes these are cases where both readings are theoretically possible, so you can get insides on author's thoughts that you wouldn't get normally in prose under the same circumstances.

 

[Pacifica]

Fortunately, the context is usually enough to determine, but I remember one case where both could really make sense so I couldn't tell.

 

[Godmy]

Yes, these cases are quite rare, but as I say - it's a thing which kind of matters and which we never ever get in prose, so it makes it special Also in the other cases where you can determine it by sense you are spared some thinking (And I don't promote that one shouldn't think, but in this case [poetry & spoken word] even a Roman would be spared some inner decoding, unlike in reading)

 

[Imber Ranae]

If we're talking only of the practical benefits of learning Latin prosody, I have to say there's really no better way to get an accurate feeling for the language's syllable structure and its mora-based isochrony. Reading Latin poetry properly will force you to observe vowel length distinctions you might otherwise neglect and to maintain the proper length of pronunciation in unstressed syllables by not clipping the vowels or assigning consonants to the wrong syllable, and in stressed syllables by not allowing the accent to improperly lengthen it.

 

[Callaina]

Thing is, I can read poetry very well without knowing anything about meter, and I'm not sure what benefit I'd really get if I put the effort necessary to learn all those Rubick's-cube-like rules of putting as many heavy or light syllables in such and such a way. Apart from looking more intelligent because I can tell that this is a hexameter and that is a pentameter. Perhaps I would also be supposed to discover some beauty in it, I guess...

That's why I love poetry -- not because it's complex or mathematical per se, but rather just the sheer sound of it -- the lilt of the meter, and rhyme and alliteration and so on. It's hard to explain, I don't know, but in traditional verse (i.e. with meter and rhyme -- and I never really developed a taste for any other kind) there's something deeply satisfying about hearing a well-chosen rhyme at the end of a line -- it almost seems to "click into place", as though it were meant to be. It's transcendent in a way...but maybe I'm just babbling.

And I would need it if I were to write poetry myself, but being a person utterly devoid of creativity

Hah! So not true.