Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not
simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from
45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at
Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin
words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of
the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem
Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et
Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This
book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, 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 chunk of Lorem Ipsum used 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.