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Let none adorn me with tears or observe my funeral with weeping. Why not? Because I fly alive upon the lips of men.

Nemo me lacrimis decoret neque funera fletu
faxit. Cur? volito vivos per ora virum.

Original text (Latin)

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Notes from Wikiquote

As quoted in Edwards, M. J. (1993). “Aeternus Lepos”: Venus, Lucretius, and the Fear of Death. Greece & Rome, 40(1), 68–78. jstor.org

More quotes by Ennius

Whom men fear they hate, and whom they hate, they wish dead.

The wise man is wise in vain who cannot be wise to his own advantage.

One man by delay restored the state,
for he preferred the public safety to idle report.

The ape, vilest of beasts, how like to us!

Otioso in otio animus nescit quid velit.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ennius (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.