Death is nothing to us.
Genuine
Yes. In On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book III, lines 830–831; Leonard, Book III, “Folly of the Fear of Death”.
Found word for word by program in the Latin original and in William Ellery Leonard’s English translation (1916).
The wording people share comes from a later translation; Leonard’s words are underlined below.
- Work
- On the Nature of Things (De rerum natura), 55 BC
- Where
- Book III, lines 830–831; Leonard, Book III, “Folly of the Fear of Death”
- Found at
- Paragraph 78 of the Latin text, 159 of the English
- Translation
- William Ellery Leonard, 1916
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
[…] Add, too, that frenzy, peculiar to the mind, And that oblivion of the things that were; Add its submergence in the murky waves Of drowse and torpor.
Quod si forte ideo magis inmortalis habendast, quod vitalibus ab rebus munita tenetur, aut quia non veniunt omnino aliena salutis, aut quia quae veniunt aliqua ratione recedunt pulsa prius quam quid noceant sentire queamus, […] praeter enim quam quod morbis cum corporis aegret, advenit id quod eam de rebus saepe futuris macerat inque metu male habet curisque fatigat, praeteritisque male admissis peccata remordent. adde furorem animi proprium atque oblivia rerum, adde quod in nigras lethargi mergitur undas.
Therefore death to us Is nothing, nor concerns us in the least, Since nature of mind is mortal evermore.1 […]
Nil igitur mors est ad nos neque pertinet hilum, quandoquidem natura animi mortalis habetur. et vel ut ante acto nihil tempore sensimus aegri, ad confligendum venientibus undique Poenis, omnia cum belli trepido concussa tumultu horrida contremuere sub altis aetheris auris, in dubioque fuere utrorum ad regna cadendum omnibus humanis esset terraque marique, sic, ubi non erimus, cum corporis atque animai discidium fuerit, quibus e sumus uniter apti, scilicet haud nobis quicquam, qui non erimus tum, accidere omnino poterit sensumque movere, non si terra mari miscebitur et mare caelo. et si iam nostro sentit de corpore postquam distractast animi natura animaeque potestas, nil tamen est ad nos, qui comptu coniugioque corporis atque animae consistimus uniter apti. nec, si materiem nostram collegerit aetas post obitum rursumque redegerit ut sita nunc est, atque iterum nobis fuerint data lumina vitae, pertineat quicquam tamen ad nos id quoque factum, interrupta semel cum sit repetentia nostri. et nunc nil ad nos de nobis attinet, ante qui fuimus, neque iam de illis nos adficit angor. nam cum respicias inmensi temporis omne praeteritum spatium, tum motus materiai multimodi quam sint, facile hoc adcredere possis, semina saepe in eodem, ut nunc sunt, ordine posta haec eadem, quibus e nunc nos sumus, ante fuisse. nec memori tamen id quimus reprehendere mente; inter enim iectast vitai pausa vageque deerrarunt passim motus ab sensibus omnes. debet enim, misere si forte aegreque futurumst; ipse quoque esse in eo tum tempore, cui male possit accidere. id quoniam mors eximit, esseque prohibet illum cui possint incommoda conciliari, scire licet nobis nihil esse in morte timendum nec miserum fieri qui non est posse, neque hilum differre an nullo fuerit iam tempore natus, mortalem vitam mors cum inmortalis ademit.
Hence, where thou seest a man to grieve because When dead he rots with body laid away, Or perishes in flames or jaws of beasts, Know well: he rings not true, and that beneath Still works an unseen sting upon his heart, However he deny that he believes. […]
Proinde ubi se videas hominem indignarier ipsum, post mortem fore ut aut putescat corpore posto aut flammis interfiat malisve ferarum, scire licet non sincerum sonere atque subesse caecum aliquem cordi stimulum, quamvis neget ipse credere se quemquam sibi sensum in morte futurum; non, ut opinor, enim dat quod promittit et unde nec radicitus e vita se tollit et eicit, sed facit esse sui quiddam super inscius ipse. vivus enim sibi cum proponit quisque futurum, corpus uti volucres lacerent in morte feraeque, ipse sui miseret; neque enim se dividit illim nec removet satis a proiecto corpore et illum se fingit sensuque suo contaminat astans. hinc indignatur se mortalem esse creatum nec videt in vera nullum fore morte alium se, qui possit vivus sibi se lugere peremptum stansque iacentem se lacerari urive dolere. nam si in morte malumst malis morsuque ferarum tractari, non invenio qui non sit acerbum ignibus inpositum calidis torrescere flammis aut in melle situm suffocari atque rigere frigore, cum summo gelidi cubat aequore saxi, urgerive superne obrutum pondere terrae.
“Thee now no more The joyful house and best of wives shall welcome, Nor little sons run up to snatch their kisses And touch with silent happiness thy heart. […]
‘Iam iam non domus accipiet te laeta neque uxor optima, nec dulces occurrent oscula nati praeripere et tacita pectus dulcedine tangent. non poteris factis florentibus esse tuisque praesidium. misero misere’ aiunt ‘omnia ademit una dies infesta tibi tot praemia vitae.’ illud in his rebus non addunt ‘nec tibi earum iam desiderium rerum super insidet una.’ quod bene si videant animo dictisque sequantur, dissoluant animi magno se angore metuque. […]
The scene
The conclusion Lucretius draws after the long proof, earlier in Book III, that the mind and soul are mortal and die with the body. He goes on with the comparison that has become famous: just as we felt no distress in the time before we were born, when the Carthaginians came to fight Rome, so after death nothing will be able to happen to us or move our senses, not even if earth were mixed with sea and sea with sky. Later in the book Nature herself scolds the man who complains about dying.
What it means
Because the mind dies with the body, there will be no one left to suffer death or anything after it; so death cannot harm us and is not to be feared.
Often misread
Quoted as Lucretius’ own coinage or as a shrug that death does not matter. It is his Latin version of Epicurus’ saying that death is nothing to us (Principal Doctrines 2; Letter to Menoeceus), and an argument against the fear of one’s own death, not a claim that losing others is nothing. The longer form ‘where death is, I am not’ is Epicurus’ wording, not in Lucretius.
Also shared as
- ShortenedNil igitur mors est ad nos. The opening words of III.830, as usually cited. Where it was seen
- Another public-domain translationTherefore death is nothing to us, it matters not one jot, since the nature of the mind is understood to be mortal. W. H. D. Rouse’s Loeb translation (1924). Where it was seen
Before and after
Topics
Related quotes
- Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. Epicurus
- To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. J. K. Rowling
- Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind. (paraphrase) Aristotle
- Nothing from nothing ever yet was born.
- Men’s minds ought to have relaxation: they rise up better and more vigorous after rest. Seneca the Younger
Sources
Cite it
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book III, lines 830–831; Leonard, Book III, “Folly of the Fear of Death”, translated by William Ellery Leonard (1916). Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/death-is-nothing-to-us/ (31 October 2026).
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