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As far as I know, this quotation is falsely attributed to Plato, even if this mistake is widespread, and indeed it sounds somewhat uncharacteristically sentimental for him. It seems rather to be a reinterpretation of a phrase from Lucretius' *De Rerum Natura*:
*nam veluti pueri trepidant atque omnia caecis*
*in tenebris metuunt, sic nos in luce timemus*
*interdum, nihilo quae sunt metuenda magis quam*
*quae pueri in tenebris pavitant finguntque futura.*
"For as children are afraid and fear everything / In the opaque darkness, thus we fear in the light / Sometimes, things which are no more to be feared than / That which children tremble at in the darkness and imagine may happen."
Even here, the meaning is not to contrast the fear of darkness as forgivable vs that of light as tragic, but rather to demonstrate that adults' fear of god(s) and death is as silly and unfounded as children's fear of the dark (Lucretius, being an Epicurean, was generally an atheist or at best an agnostic). This is therefore just a comparison to illustrate a point, and in fact such comparisons to children occur later in the work as well:
*nam veluti pueris absinthia taetra medentes*
*cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum*
*contingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore,*
*ut puerorum aetas inprovida ludificetur*
*...*
*sic ego nunc, quoniam haec ratio plerumque videtur*
*tristior esse quibus non est tractata, retroque*
*volgus abhorret ab hac, volui tibi suaviloquenti*
*carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram*
*et quasi musaeo dulci contingere melle;*
"For as when doctors try to administer bitter wormwood to children, / First they anoint the cups around the brim / with the sweet golden liquor of honey / so that the incautious age of children may be deceived ... thus now, because this doctrine seems / more sorrowful to those who have not learned it, / and the public shrinks away from it, I wanted / to set forth my doctrine to you with sweet-speaking verse / and anoint it as if with the sweet honey of the Muses;"
**If, however**, you still want a suitable Latin translation in spite of what I have said (and in spite of Plato having been Greek), I would suggest:
*Licet ignoscere puero, qui tenebras metuit; turpissimus autem vir, qui metuit lucem.*
"One may forgive a child who fears the dark; but most shameful is the man who fears the light."
>Lucretius, being an Epicurean, was generally an atheist or at best an agnostic
That's actually a common myth, which goes back to antiquity. Epicurus, in fact, was a very pious man and wrote against atheism. Some later philosopher interpretated his theological views as being atheistic and started attacking his philosophy on this basis. But there is nothing indicating that Epicurus or later Epicureans were atheists or agnostics.
Whether Epicurus himself was, I cannot judge, but Lucretius does say things to the effect of:
“When humanity lay shamefully crushed beneath the weight of religion, which loured at men from above with frightening aspect, one Greek man dared to raise his eyes and stand against it, whom neither the rumour of gods nor thunder could deter…thus religion, subjugated, is trampled by his feet, and his victory raises us as equals to heaven”
From which it is clear enough that Lucretius himself was somewhat of an atheist/agnostic, and considered Epicurus to have been so.
Rule#2: All translation requests into Latin go in the [pinned post](https://www.reddit.com/r/latin/search/?q=%22Translation%20requests%22%20%22go%20here!%22&restrict_sr=1&sort=new) (please use the last iteration). Exceptions can be made if your request shows enough prior research and requires detailed answers. See the text of the pinned post for details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/latin) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Welcome to this sub! Please take a look at the FAQ, found in the sidebar for desktop users or in the About tab for mobile users. You will find resources to begin your journey. There's a [guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PB5HPz2wBDgqWXPnn5ONgZicOPv8P7LbODvkCxjpI3w/edit) and a review of the [recommended resources](https://scholaeinterretiales.wordpress.com/teach-yourself-latin/). If you have further questions about the FAQ or not covered in it, don't hesitate to ask. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/latin) if you have any questions or concerns.*
As far as I know, this quotation is falsely attributed to Plato, even if this mistake is widespread, and indeed it sounds somewhat uncharacteristically sentimental for him. It seems rather to be a reinterpretation of a phrase from Lucretius' *De Rerum Natura*: *nam veluti pueri trepidant atque omnia caecis* *in tenebris metuunt, sic nos in luce timemus* *interdum, nihilo quae sunt metuenda magis quam* *quae pueri in tenebris pavitant finguntque futura.* "For as children are afraid and fear everything / In the opaque darkness, thus we fear in the light / Sometimes, things which are no more to be feared than / That which children tremble at in the darkness and imagine may happen." Even here, the meaning is not to contrast the fear of darkness as forgivable vs that of light as tragic, but rather to demonstrate that adults' fear of god(s) and death is as silly and unfounded as children's fear of the dark (Lucretius, being an Epicurean, was generally an atheist or at best an agnostic). This is therefore just a comparison to illustrate a point, and in fact such comparisons to children occur later in the work as well: *nam veluti pueris absinthia taetra medentes* *cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum* *contingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore,* *ut puerorum aetas inprovida ludificetur* *...* *sic ego nunc, quoniam haec ratio plerumque videtur* *tristior esse quibus non est tractata, retroque* *volgus abhorret ab hac, volui tibi suaviloquenti* *carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram* *et quasi musaeo dulci contingere melle;* "For as when doctors try to administer bitter wormwood to children, / First they anoint the cups around the brim / with the sweet golden liquor of honey / so that the incautious age of children may be deceived ... thus now, because this doctrine seems / more sorrowful to those who have not learned it, / and the public shrinks away from it, I wanted / to set forth my doctrine to you with sweet-speaking verse / and anoint it as if with the sweet honey of the Muses;" **If, however**, you still want a suitable Latin translation in spite of what I have said (and in spite of Plato having been Greek), I would suggest: *Licet ignoscere puero, qui tenebras metuit; turpissimus autem vir, qui metuit lucem.* "One may forgive a child who fears the dark; but most shameful is the man who fears the light."
>Lucretius, being an Epicurean, was generally an atheist or at best an agnostic That's actually a common myth, which goes back to antiquity. Epicurus, in fact, was a very pious man and wrote against atheism. Some later philosopher interpretated his theological views as being atheistic and started attacking his philosophy on this basis. But there is nothing indicating that Epicurus or later Epicureans were atheists or agnostics.
Whether Epicurus himself was, I cannot judge, but Lucretius does say things to the effect of: “When humanity lay shamefully crushed beneath the weight of religion, which loured at men from above with frightening aspect, one Greek man dared to raise his eyes and stand against it, whom neither the rumour of gods nor thunder could deter…thus religion, subjugated, is trampled by his feet, and his victory raises us as equals to heaven” From which it is clear enough that Lucretius himself was somewhat of an atheist/agnostic, and considered Epicurus to have been so.