#3: Carpe Diem

What It Means:

"enjoy the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future" (literally, "pluck the day")

Where It Comes From:

During the 1st century BC, the Roman poet Horace wrote, "Seize the day; put no trust in the morrow."

The notion of living for the moment crops up over centuries of poetry, including in the writings of Shakespeare, Milton and Byron.

Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," written in the 1600s, has been called the "carpe diem" poem. In it, the narrator urges his love to submit to his embraces before "worms shall try / That long-preserved virginity."