Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has its roots in a piece of classical Latin literature dating from 45 BC, making it over 2,000 years old. Richard McClintock, a professor of Latin at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, ‘consectetur’, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and, whilst examining the citations of the word in classical literature, discovered its undoubted source. Lorem Ipsum is taken from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of *De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum* (On the Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, which was very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…”, comes from a line in section 1.10.32.

The standard passage of Lorem Ipsum, in use since the 1500s, is reproduced below for those interested. Sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 from *De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum* by Cicero are also reproduced in their exact original form, accompanied by English versions from the 1914 translation by H. Rackham.