Better late than never to understand. Better late than never (Potius sero, quam nunquam)

"1 ... That year (445) was unkind both in domestic affairs and in military affairs. Already at the very beginning of its beginning, the tribune Guy Canulei published a proposal to allow legal marriages between patricians and plebeians, in which the patricians saw a threat to the purity of their blood and orderliness of tribal rights
2... Meanwhile, the consuls turned the senate against the tribunes, and the tribunes the people against the consuls. The madness of the tribunes, said the consuls, was becoming unbearable; more wars than in foreign lands. And the reason for this is both the people and the patricians, both the tribunes and the consuls.
11 ... And there is no end to this: people's tribunes and senators cannot get along in one state: either the estate of some, or the office of others must cease to exist; "

History of Rome from the founding of the city main book Titus Libya. He wrote it for thirty years and traced the history of the city from its founding to 9 AD. Today, parts 1-10 and 21-45 of the 142 are fully known, the rest have survived to this day in retellings and fragments

Aphorisms of Titus Livy

• Woe to the vanquished
• Sometimes most of wins the best
• No crime can have a legal basis
• There is no law that would satisfy everyone

Better late than never

• German: Besser spät als nie
• English: Better late than never
• French: Mieux vaut tard que jamais
• Italian: Meglio tardi che mai
• Spanish: Mas vale tarde que nunca

The Chinese equivalent of the saying "better late than never" - Don't be afraid to procrastinate, be afraid to stop.

Use of the expression in literature

— « But I finally confessed. Better late than never. Why are you so mad at me?"(Evgeny Yevtushenko" Wolf Passport ")
— « And dreams must come true. And better late than never. The rest of the money dispersed quickly.”(Nina Caterly (Champagne Splashes)
— « But I remembered in time,” I added quietly. - Better late than never. “Truly better.”(Arkady Weiner, Georgy Weiner ("The Cure Against Fear")
— « ... Serpilin said displeasedly to the head of communications. - Better late than never! Pull the connection here!(Konstantin Simonov "The Living and the Dead")
— « What was the convenience, I did not dare to interrogate the general; better late than never, I just thought, but I realized that I would not be able to get data on the state of the allied army from him ... "(A. A. Ignatiev "Fifty years in the ranks")
— « ... said mom. - Better late than never. Father was walking along the platform(K. G. Paustovsky "Distant years")

"Otto" is one of Handel's "historical" operas, although the creators of the work cared little for the authentic transmission of the facts known to historians (the libretto was borrowed from Stefano Pallavicino and revised true friend and Handel's colleague, Nikola Heim). In the baroque era real events and the characters were, roughly speaking, only an "excuse" for composing stage intrigues and "jewelry" melodies. And music in this manifestation is not alone among other arts. The plot has everything you need: family reunion, disguise of an aristocrat as a pirate, an impostor in the role of emperor and groom, kidnapping of the bride, escape from the dungeon, thirst for revenge, ardent love and the triumph of good.

The music is a concentration of lyrics capable of becoming fatal for the hypnotic centers of the brain: there are more cantilena arias than bravura ones, which is perhaps one of the reasons for the lower popularity of Ottone compared to many other operas by the same composer. This is unfair, because the music here is brilliant, as always with Handel, and fantastically beautiful.

The main roles at the premiere were played by the "classical" prima donna Francesca Cuzzoni (Feofano), who was almost thrown out the window by Handel for not wanting to perform the aria Falsa imagine; Senesino (Otto), one of the most famous castrati of that time; Gaetano Berenstadt (Adalberto), also a castrato, who often sang villains because of the legendary disproportion of his body; Giuseppe Maria Boschi (Emireno); Margherita Durastanti (Gismonda), another Handelian prima donna; and Anastasia Robinson (Matilda), Handel's favorite and "queen" of supporting roles in his operas.

The London premiere took place in 1723 at the Theater on the Hay Market, and the Russian premiere took place only now, in Concert hall named after Tchaikovsky, which, in combination with a set the most talented performers makes this event special.

Marianne Beata Kielland (Otto) pleases with a gorgeous musical taste, perfectly masters breathing and perfectly displays cantilenas. Joan Lunn (Feofano) captivates with a beautiful light voice, although in a high register it sometimes turns into a “beep”, and the performance as a whole sounds somewhat monotonous. Alexander Miminoshvili (Emireno) is the most "acting" of all the soloists. It seems to me that his voice is more suitable for the performance of Rossini's compositions, and in the baroque opera I heard slight roughness, which, however, did not interfere with the music at all. Anna Bonitatibus (Gismonda) is a very professional singer. Queen pianissimo: aria reprise Vieni, o figlio- a real masterpiece of singing whisper. Yuri Minenko (Adalbert) has a beautiful timbre, impeccable technique and heartfelt emotionality. In his first aria, he went to the "male" voice, but he did it very naturally and evenly, and then he did not resort to such "tricks". The voice of Romina Basso (Matilda) has the darkest coloring: it would be ideal for playing the roles of sorceresses. The only thing that bothered me personally was the “disappearance” of the last sounds in phrases, although, on the other hand, this technique is not without expressiveness.

Duets, and there are two of them in "Ottone", and the final "chorus" demonstrated the singers' excellent ability to "merge" their voices, and to absolute harmony of dissonant timbres. The radiant conductor Christopher Molds brilliantly prepared this opera with the virtuosic and sensitive State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia.

In short, "Otton" has become a real celebration of music. Both the musicians and the singers demonstrated their best qualities and sincere love for the sounds born of their will.

Photo: Provided by the press service of the Moscow Philharmonic

All rights reserved. Copying is prohibited.

Be who you were born to be

Time is slipping away from us. Day after day, and even year after year, they go by faster and faster. I'm 30. You may be less or more. They say we're about to have a midlife crisis. And behind it, and something else more interesting.

Are you afraid of this? It would be bold of me to write no. I would rather share now Barbara Sher's thoughts on this subject, set out in her new book.

Another practical book by Barbara Sher for those who love to live their lives according to their wishes, and not complain about the severity of fate. And this is the third book by Barbara that I have read. I was bored, flipped through, because I am not a scanner. And I plan to just refresh my memory. Because its usefulness for me went off scale, I want to find something else important for myself in it.

The book “Better late than never” is about the fears and illusions of middle age and how to deal with them. Although the truths are spelled out such that it is possible, or rather, it is better to understand early.

What scares us? Old age with disease and inevitable death? Or the fact that we miss, that we do not get tired of complaining and waiting, constantly waiting for something better. It turns out that it is frightening that in this life there is often no life itself. Just stay days. We clearly feel that time is running, and we do not use everything that is in us. We clearly feel already now without “middle age” that everything is somehow halfway. All because we guess, there is a huge, great potential within us. And we don't let him wake up.

The fact that everyone has them, I think, no one needs to assert. All I need is the courage to close my eyes and firmly decide for myself that I am ready to walk the path to my dream.

What path to the dream does Barbara Sher offer us in her book Better Late Than Never?

As always (and this is not strange), first we say goodbye to fears and illusions.

Illusion #1: The older we are, the less time we have. Is not a fact. We manage less time when we constantly think about how to prove something to someone, how to achieve what is considered to be the criterion of success, and not the reason for our joy. And time slows down when we are in the flow, when we are on our own wave, when the greatness of the world intersects with ours and we are a little closer to understanding the main intent.

Illusion No. 2: Power and freedom are a gift of youth. Judging by the statistics of their Google Analytics, our audience on this site is young. Does each of us feel free? Shackled by invented rules and priorities, we lose ourselves. We hear ads and see beautiful picture in social networks, moving away from their happy dreams, in which the dream is painted with brightness. Noise around, which makes it less and less possible to dissolve in your silence. And what is the power? We firmly believe that we are omnipotent and ready to endure any battle in order to find joy. From this confidence, TO DO lists (to-do lists) grow and faith in oneself is catastrophically destroyed. And it is almost considered luck to give innocence of wisdom. When you are ready to leave God's things to God, and only your duties to yourself. To do 100% of your 50%, to do what you can at this stage of your development, with pleasure and pride. The remaining 50% is still not in our power. Trust in God (the Universe / the Universe / fate), his love and care and will be our power.

If something is bothering you, let it out. Positive affirmations will deceive you and pain will remain inside, which will somehow find a way out anyway, only becoming even stronger. Barbara Sher offers practices for working with the inner child and silent scream for such a case. What is bothering you right now? Give yourself a clear answer. Now imagine yourself as a child. At such an age when you still did not believe that crying and screaming is bad. Now give yourself the opportunity to show your reaction to what does not suit you now, as you would have done at that age. Grieve, moan, cry, swear - whatever the inner child wants to do. And let go. Or imagine that you are in the mountains in front of a cliff, inhale this freedom, straighten chest, spread your arms and let out a silent cry as you exhale. So many times to feel that it became calm. These were practices in a nutshell. After them, I look at my crying four-month-old son with admiration - it's a gift to express my emotions so openly and not feel any embarrassment.

Decide on your dreams and deal with excuses

As always, Barbara Sher offers many exercises for the occasion. Elementary - write down everything that you dreamed about in childhood, adolescence, having matured, and also imagining that you are a person of the opposite sex, a character in your favorite book or movie. Let fantasies run wild, let every dream come to mind. Record answers separately. Then discuss them with friends, when meeting with a success group or in dialogue with yourself, but with a more bold and confident self.

And in general, you know, because everything is very simple. The dream is dictated by your talents and features. And pleasure points to your talents.

Fun and pleasure are the first signs of talent. Persistence in the path of victory is necessary, but it is easily manifested when we love what we do.

So, if you have not decided on a dream, listen to yourself: what your mind clings to, what you can talk about for hours, what to read about and even pay money for education. This is what you have the ability to, your unique, directly your vision. And I repeat, it is your duty to prove yourself in this, giving vent to your greatness. Someone really needs it. Not in the approval of you by the society according to the criterion of success, beautiful children and a rich house. And in the manifestation of your deepest essence.

It seems to you that the moment is lost and even at your ± 30 you have nothing to dream of? Behind opportunities and mostly missed? And how about considering your not 18 years old, how you accumulated the experience and knowledge that you needed, even if they don’t seem interesting? Now you are what you should be. Even if it is woven from fears, regrets and discontent. Are you reading this post? So these words are for you. It means that the Universe wants to tell you all this through him. Let everything that was in your life come together with the piano keys and play your music of life. You may still have to set it up and, in general, learn how to play at least. But the keys are already there, both white and black are important in them. Learning is not standing still, development is a necessary component for happiness. Accept everything that was in your life, what kind Accept what is hidden in you incredible beauty and his duty to manifest it.

It's only beautiful words? Barbara told her fascinating story in the book and many more of her clients and acquaintances. They prove that anything is possible.

I personally am at the stage when I realize that my full potential has not yet been revealed. Happiness in my understanding is to be who you are meant to be, who you were born to be, to do what you love, and in this way to show love for yourself, life and people, making them happier, to be useful, because in your talent, in any case, someone needs. Now I guess what I groped mine path. There is still a lot of work on it, but I am ready for it and only glad about it. At this stage, I want to give myself more to the purpose of being a wife and mother (two small children will definitely agree with me). But there is still something in me and in you that someone else is waiting for. It takes the courage to believe in yourself, not to betray yourself, not to ignore your dreams, the courage not to conform to conventions and not to let anyone tell you who you are and who you should be.

Books help me with this, and also interest and admiration for the lives and successes of other people. Yes, I often get discouraged. But if there is trust, it becomes easier.

What books have inspired me the most?

• - a lot of exercises allowed me to delve into myself well and understand what I really want.
• - gave me the courage to dream and want what I need. On the advice of the author, I went on a date with my dream. After water aerobics for pregnant women at the Lviv Chocolate Workshop, relaxed with water and sweetened with sweets, I revised everything I wanted. I made ordered lists in Google Docs - Upcoming plans, Ideas for posts, My dreams and To do on the site. Freed my head from chaos, and a lot of notebooks from a lot of unstructured notes. Slowly doing what I can at this stage, crossing out, writing in a new one and keeping my dreams in sight.
• - Oh, this is my love. She reminded me that all the answers are within. That life should bring happiness. And before each choice, you just need to ask yourself the question: “Will this bring me the state that I need?”

And “Better late than never” told me that the running years ahead cannot be scary if you are yourself and live your life. And it's never too late for that.

It will only be too late if you don't start right now!

I hope this post helped you understand something important and inspired you to do great things. If so, share it with a friend or friend. So that more of us could discover and show our talents.

“How to treat the problem of age? My advice - forget about it! When it comes to others or yourself, pay attention to experience, intelligence, imagination, talent, energy, decency, kindness - what really matters in any human being - and completely ignore age. It does not matter, and in any case, it is difficult to comprehend. Worst of all, it leads to costly mistakes that you don't want to make,” writes Barbara Sher in her new book, Better Late Than Never. Here are five rules that will help you avoid mistakes.

Better late than never

Rule #1 Don't think you're too old for something until you're too old.

A gray-haired woman came up to me in a bookstore in Wyoming and said, “What a pity I didn't hear from you years ago. There were things that I wanted to do, but nothing worked. And now it's too late."

I asked: "Are you sick?"

"No, no, but I'm already sixty-three, I really waited too long."

“You know,” I said, “you can live to eighty or ninety. And you will feel like a complete fool when you realize that you considered yourself old at sixty-three! You will definitely not like this feeling. Better get started now."

Her problem is that, like you and me, she was prematurely traumatized by her own birthdays. By the time we're smart enough to realize how young we were at forty, fifty, or sixty, we'll be seventy, eighty, or ninety!

That is why it is so important to pay special attention to what should not be put off. If everything is in order with your health, it's time to start hiking. Don't put it off until seventy. On the one hand, what if your body then can not carry you? On the other hand, by the age of seventy you will be doing other wonderful things that your hands did not reach before, and, in any case, you will be too busy for hiking.

You already notice small physical problems? Great. Write a list of what works and use it. Don't waste time regretting your growing waist or thumb, which behaves unimportantly. Most likely, you are in the right shape for what you need to do during this period of life, just like you were in the right shape as an infant or teenager.

Most importantly, do not forget: if the body allows you to do something, then you are not too old for this.

Rule number 2. Time is clay. Create something out of it.

Remember all the things you always wanted to do but didn't seem able to do, like travel, dance or write? It's time to start. If, like most people in their forties, you are responsible for countless projects and have very little free time, remember: for the work you love to contribute bright colors into your life, it is not necessary to devote everything to him work time. Five minutes a day of writing or singing, dancing or leafing through travel brochures will be like water to a thirsty plant. And those five minutes will incredibly increase the chances of doing something to the fullest. I promise: familiarity with the subject will open up new possibilities.

Rule number 3. If you have A big dream follow her. But don't think it's the last one.

Is there anything significant you would like to do before you get "too old"? Go ahead and do it if you can. But do not fool yourself, thinking that, having completed your plan, you will agree to grow old. One dream will never be enough. In fact, the best reason to take on a lifelong dream is to get it out of the way so you can move on to your next dreams. One day you will see that this dream was only a warm-up.

You are entering the age of big beginnings, and your dreams are just starting to line up.

Rule #4: Beware of premature regrets.

"Of all the sad words written or spoken, the saddest of all is 'It was possible!'" If you are wondering where the years have gone and whether you have wisely disposed of your life, keep in mind: the question is great, but the time is not right for it yet. What have you done in life? My answer: who can know? There is a good chance that your life has not yet begun.

Remember: “What you do today, right now, will be your ticket to happiness. This is not the end at all. This the most important beginning. Over the years, you have moved from animal instincts - blind impulses that overshadowed everything - and have come to awareness, the ability to see and understand what you are looking at.

Think about it. This change is one of the most significant in your life. It is like being blind and now seeing again. But the change affected not only the ability to see the world around. Mindfulness awakened an understanding of who you are, where you are and where you want to go. Your car finally has a driver, and it's you - the real you, the genuine one, not the one you thought you were supposed to be. There is a real road in front of you, here it is, and it is intended for you personally.

Time always gives more than it takes. Time has brought you here, carried away your sorrows, allowed you to blossom. It gave real wealth, made up of accumulated decisions and lessons learned, events, skills, insights, relationships with people. Encounters with life have helped shape and understand what you are made of. Time has regularly deposited into the bank account of your experience. You have become a treasure trove - how Library of Alexandria. And every year the value of treasures is increasing.

Time is your material. All the great things you get to do will be carved out of time. The sailor uses the waves and the wind, time will carry you. And the outlined limit of time is nothing but the pier from which you push off at the beginning of the journey.

Rule #5: Remembering your mortality is good.

Recognition of one's mortality helps to feel currently like nothing else. Have you ever been near a dying person? To see how a person refuses everything superficial and penetrates into the essence of every moment of life is the deepest experience. Suddenly the "here and now" appear like never before. My friend, a journalist accustomed to working sixty to seventy hours a week, found herself facing a long illness and the inevitable death of her father. She took an indefinite leave and settled in his house: “I just wanted to be with him. What is especially possible here is just to play with the cat, bring him tea.

That's the sense of timelessness that many of us have lost, isn't it? But awareness of the finiteness of time, like nothing else, makes us act. Knowing that you will die is the beginning of serious accomplishments.

Based on the book "Better Late Than Never"

// Essay-reasoning on the proverb "Better late than never"

“Better late than never” is an old Russian proverb that contains the wisdom of generations. But in fact, what is better: not to finish the job or finish it, but later? It is this meaning that is embedded in this proverb Because there is no time frame for a good deed.

My dad worked as an electrician. His work was difficult and responsible, often he was called early in the morning, because something could go wrong. Whether it's a lantern in the park or an outlet at a pensioner on the other side of the city. He was an electrician working in house management. He had to get up at dawn, collect tools and go to an unloved job.

Every day, leaving the house, near the door, he sighed heavily. Father never complained, but at such moments it became clear that this work was for the family, and not for the soul. He worked there for five years. Such a period of daddy's patience. But one evening, at a family dinner, dad could no longer keep this lump in himself and said that he would no longer go to this job, it does not bring him joy.

By education, my dad is a military man, he graduated from military department at legal institute. When he began to talk about the army, about discipline, about a beautiful uniform, a smile lit up his face, which was not there when he went to his last job. Thanks to old connections, my father was back in the ranks. That's how my dad changed the field of activity. You can do this at any time, at any age, because better late than never!

I remember how I came to my grandmother on the winter vacation and she talked about her classmate. He was tall, handsome, and he liked his grandmother very much. But she found out about it twenty years later, at a reunion of graduates. And a classmate was silent all the years because of his embarrassment. Who knows how their lives would have turned out, thanks to one revelation? Grandmother was already married, but she, as a woman, was pleased with such attention. There is just nothing to return. Too much time has passed. Act now, in this moment, in this second!

How many times have you thanked your mom for cooking dinner? She tried her best, put her love and care into it. She would love to hear "thank you." How they shine mother's eyes from simple human gratitude, and cheeks are filled with a blush. How nice it is for a person to receive kindness in return! This is the beauty of the human soul.

One day, my mother passed away, and I never had time to say the word “thank you” to her. Therefore, it is better to say late than when there will be no one to speak.