This phrase is usually understood against Horace’s Epicurean background. The ode says that the future is unforeseen and that one should not leave to chance future happenings, but rather one should do all one can today to make one’s own future better. In Horace, the phrase is part of the longer carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero, which is often translated as “Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)”. It has been argued by various authors that this interpretation is closer to Horace’s original meaning. A more literal translation of carpe diem would thus be “pluck the day ”-that is, enjoy the moment. Carpe is the second-person singular present active imperative of carpō “pick or pluck” used by Horace to mean “enjoy, seize, use, make use of”. “Carpe diem is a Latin aphorism, usually (though questionably) translated “seize the day”, taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace’s work Odes (23 BC).
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