A greek quotation translated into Latin has been the reason for debate among many scholars and philosophers, and the debate boils down to understanding the actual meaning of the phrase. I'm no scholar or philosopher, I don't have any knowledge of Latin or Greek but I somewhat understand humans, at least I like to think so.
Some argue that this phrase is about art and the artist, Art lasts forever but the artists perish and others state that the term has been used to imply the learning of a new skill i.e. Medicine and life is too short for anyone to master it. Looking at the two schools of thought, I feel what they both are trying to prove is more similar than it is different. They both focus on the mortality factor associated with human existence and how after a point in time they cease to exist leaving everything behind. The point of differentiation in their arguments will be the context of the word art, the way it is understood, and then crafted in accordance with their school of thought, but the point of similarity is the association of the word with a sense of immortality.
Breaking up the phrase into two different parts gives us the factors of immortality and mortality and the attempt of the latter to achieve the first. This phrase is not about art or artists it's about an urge, an effort, a feeling that makes every human being strive towards the creation of something that is greater than their own selves and will have an identity of its own, This phenomenon also makes me feel that it can be one of the most instinctive reasons behind the fascination with reproduction, creating something that will surpass you and will still have some aspects of you. The urge to create is one of the most prominent reasons that compels an artist to invest their time in an activity, breaking yourself at every step of the process to distribute it in various creations of yours and moving forward to the next. This analogy of how an artist distributes their own self in various different pieces of work reminds me of Horcruxes and Voldemort and how similar an artist is to this. Every artist takes a piece of their soul and hides it in their art with the purpose of attaining immortality and the more Horcruxes they create the closer they come to immortality.
No matter what school of thought you belong but the pursuit of immortality is common in both be it creating art that will last forever or learning a craft or skill and contributing to it which will be carried out in the future by the succeeding practitioners of the skill, The reasons can we varied but what is constant is the hunger to contribute towards something that is greater than you and find something that will be carried on even when you cease to exist.
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis is not just a phrase it's a reminder for every human being to create something the will surpass them and journey along with the universe indefinitely.
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