Q0231
Lucretius
A verified English rendering from the curated archive.
English
From the very fountain of delights rises something bitter that chokes among the flowers themselves.
Source context
This English passage is associated with De Rerum Natura IV.1133–1134, within the tradition of Epicureanism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.
A short reading
Read in the register of desire, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Lucretius's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?
How to cite this quotation
APA: Lucretius. (n.d.). From the very fountain of delights rises something bitter that chokes among the flowers themselves. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0231
MLA: Lucretius. “From the very fountain of delights rises something….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0231.
Chicago: Lucretius. “From the very fountain of delights rises something….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0231.