Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur.

From a passage, and going through the cites of the in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

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 , “ dolor sit amet..”, comes from a line in section 1.10.32.

The standard chunk of 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.

Where can I get some?

There are many variations of passages of available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable.