Tattoo Momento Mori Sed Momento vivere

[Matt whelan]

Hello everybody! I am after some help
In confirming the above translation.

My research has lead me to believe the translation is
'Remember that you must die but also remember that you must live.'

I wanted to get absolute clarity on the translation and if it makes sense as this will be getting tattoo'd as script covering the entirety of my back

Thankyou.

 

[Dantius]

That should be memento. Also, make sure you're consistent with your capitalization - if you want to capitalize the first letter of every word, capitalize Vivere as well.

You could add an "etiam" (meaning "also") to better express your English sentence:
memento mori sed etiam memento vivere.

Other than that, it seems good, but I would advise waiting for one more person's input (confirmation or a different suggestion) before you get your tattoo.

 

[Matt whelan]

Thankyou Dantius I'm not sure why the 'o' were put as 'e' I think I went a bit Spanish for a second lol.

The etiam suggestion is great. Would it make sense to begin each phrase with a capital but lower case with sed and etiam? For example:
Memento Mori sed etiam Memento Vivere.
Thanks

 

[Iáson]

I may be completely wrong about this, Dantius, but I don't think sed etiam can be used like that. It feels really weird, because it is usually part of the nōn modo... sed etiam... construction. Feel free to prove me wrong though, because my instincts aren't usually that great for this sort of thing (and I haven't found a way of searching for a counterexample).

The etiam suggestion is great. Would it make sense to begin each phrase with a capital but lower case with sed and etiam? For example:
Memento Mori sed etiam Memento Vivere.

The Romans did not have a distinction between capital and lower-case letters. So I guess that's up to you.

 

[Dantius]

I may be completely wrong about this, Dantius, but I don't think sed etiam can be used like that. It feels really weird, because it is usually part of the nōn modo... sed etiam... construction. Feel free to prove me wrong though, because my instincts aren't usually that great for this sort of thing (and I haven't found a way of searching for a counterexample).

I'm not sure, now that I think about it. Does anyone else know whether sed etiam can be used alone?

 

[Iáson]

I don't think sed etiam can be used like that.

sed quoque doesn't seem to exist either. An alternative could be sed tamen, although I'm still not sure about it.

 

[Iáson]

There are some examples in L&S s.v. sed, but the closest parallel is a bit different.
hīc mihi prīmum meum cōnsilium dēfuit, sed etiam obfuit.
'That was the first point where my judgement let me down, or rather did me down.' (Loeb tr.)
Maybe it would seem better with a different order?
eg. mementō morī, sed mementō etiam vīvere.

 

[Matt whelan]

I may be completely wrong about this, Dantius, but I don't think sed etiam can be used like that. It feels really weird, because it is usually part of the nōn modo... sed etiam... construction. Feel free to prove me wrong though, because my instincts aren't usually that great for this sort of thing (and I haven't found a way of searching for a counterexample).



The Romans did not have a distinction between capital and lower-case letters. So I guess that's up to you.

Thankyou for your input.

Thanks to those who have contributed to the thread so far, the priority of course is that the scripture 'makes sense' so any other suggestions on phrasing would be greatly appreciated! This is going to be a huge project (approx 30 hours of tattoo time) to completely cover my back so of course it is crucial that it reads correctly!

 

[cinefactus]

sed quoque doesn't seem to exist either. An alternative could be sed tamen, although I'm still not sure about it.

why not just tamen? memento tamen vivere?

 

[Iáson]

why not just tamen? memento tamen vivere?

mementō morī, mementō tamen vīvere
'Remember that you will die; however, remember to live'
That seems fine to me.