Quotes about love in Latin. Winged Latin expressions
Ab altero expectes, alteri quod feceris.
Expect from another what you yourself have done to another.
Ad pulchritudinem ego excitata sum, elegantia spiro et artem efflo.
I am awakened to beauty, breathe grace and radiate art.
Abiens, abi!
Leaving go!
Adversa fortuna.
Evil rock.
Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem.
Try to maintain presence of mind even in difficult circumstances.
Aetate fruere, mobili cursu fugit.
Take advantage of life, it is so fleeting.
Actum ne agas.
What you're done with, don't come back to.
Aliena vitia in oculis habemus, a tergo nostra sunt.
Other people's vices are before our eyes, ours are behind our backs.
Amantes sunt amentes.
Lovers are crazy.
Amicos res secundae parant, adversae probant.
Friends are made by happiness, misfortune tests them.
Amor etiam deos tangit.
Even the gods are subject to love.
Amor omnia vincit.
Love conquers everything.
Amor, ut lacrima, ab oculo oritur, in cor cadit.
Love, like a tear, is born from the eyes and falls on the heart.
Antiquus amor cancer est.
Old love is not forgotten.
Audi, multa, loquere pauca.
Listen a lot, talk little.
Audi, vide, sile.
Listen, watch and be silent.
Audire ignoti quom imperant soleo non auscultare.
I'm ready to listen to stupidity, but I won't listen.
Aut viam inveniam, aut faciam.
Either I’ll find a way, or I’ll pave it myself.
Aut vincere, aut mori.
Either win or die.
Beatitudo non est virtutis praemium, sed ipsa virtus.
Happiness is not a reward for valor, but it is valor itself.
Castigo te non quod odio habeam, sed quod amem.
I punish you not because I hate you, but because I love you.
Certum voto pete finem.
Set yourself only clear goals (i.e. achievable).
Consultor homini tempus utilissimus.
Time is the most useful adviser to a person.
Corrige praeteritum, praesens rege, cerne futurum.
Correct the past, manage the present, provide for the future.
Cui ridet Fortuna, eum ignorat Femida.
Whoever Fortune smiles on, Themis does not notice.
Cujusvis hominis est errare; nullius, nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.
It is common for every person to make mistakes, but only a fool tends to persist in a mistake.
Cum vitia present, paccat qui recte facit.
When vices flourish, those who live honestly suffer.
Damant, quod non intelegunt.
They judge because they don't understand.
Descensus averno facilis est.
The path to hell is easy.
Deus ipse se fecit.
God created himself
Dum spiro, spero!
While I breathe I hope!
Dum spiro, amo atque credo.
As long as I breathe, I love and believe.
Edite, bibite, post mortem nulla voluptas!
Eat, drink, there is no pleasure after death!
(From an old student song. A common motif of ancient inscriptions on tombstones and table utensils.)
Educa te ipsum!
Educate yourself!
Esse quam videri.
Be, not seem to be.
Ex nihilo nihil fit.
Nothing comes from nothing.
Ex ungue leonem.
You can recognize a lion by its claws.
Ex ungua leonem cognoscimus, ex auribus asinum.
We recognize a lion by its claws, and a donkey by its ears.
Experientia est optima magistra.
Experience is the best teacher.
Facile omnes, cum valemus, recta consilia aegrotis damus.
When we are healthy, we easily give good advice to the sick.
Facta sunt potentiora verbis.
Acts are stronger than words.
Factum est factam.
What's done is done (a fact is a fact).
Famaclamosa.
Loud glory.
Fama volat.
The earth is full of rumors.
Felix, qui quod amat, defendere fortiter audet.
Happy is he who boldly takes under his protection what he loves.
Feminae naturam regere desperare est otium.
Having decided to pacify a woman’s temperament, say goodbye to peace!
Festina lente.
Hurry up slowly.
Fide, sed cui fidas, vide.
Be vigilant; trust, but be careful who you trust.
Fidelis et forfis.
Loyal and brave.
Finis vitae, sed non amoris.
Life ends, but not love.
Forsomnia versas.
Blind chance changes everything (the will of blind chance).
Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo.
Firm in action, gentle in handling.
(Persistently achieve the goal, acting gently.)
Fortunam citius reperis, quam retineas.
Happiness is easier to find than to maintain.
Fortunam suam quisque parat.
Everyone finds their destiny themselves.
Fructus temporum.
Fruit of time.
Fuge, late, tace.
Run, hide, be silent.
Fugit irrevocabile tempus.
Irreversible time is running out.
Gaudeamus igitur.
So let's have fun.
Gloria victoribus.
Glory to the winners.
Gustus legibus non subiacet.
Taste does not obey laws.
Gutta cavat lapidem.
A drop wears away a stone.
Heu conscienta animi gravis est servitus.
Worse than slavery is remorse.
Heu quam est timendus qui mori tutus putat!
He is terrible who considers death to be good!
Homines amplius oculis, quam auribus credunt.
People believe their eyes more than their ears.
Homines, dum docent, discunt.
People learn by teaching.
Hominis est errare.
Humans tend to make mistakes.
Homines non odi, sed ejus vitia.
It is not the person I hate, but his vices.
Homines quo plura habent, eo cupiunt ampliora.
The more people have, the more they want to have.
Homo hominis amicus est.
Man is a friend to man.
Homo homini lupus est.
Man is a wolf to man.
(Plautus, "Donkeys")
Homo sum et nihil humani a me alienum puto.
I am a man, and nothing human is alien to me.
Ibi potest valere populus, ubi leges valent.
Where the laws are in force, the people are strong.
Igne natura renovatur integra.
With fire, all nature is renewed.
Ignoscito saepe alteri, nunquam tibi.
Forgive others often, never forgive yourself.
(Publilius, Sentences)
Imago animi vultus est.
The face is the mirror of the soul.
Imperare sibi maximum imperium est.
To command oneself is the greatest power.
In aeternum.
Forever, forever.
In Daemon Deus!
There is God in the Demon!
In dubio abstine.
When in doubt, refrain.
Infandum renovare dolorem.
To resurrect the terrible (literally: “unspeakable”) pain
(that is, talk about the sad past).
(Virgil, "Aeneid")
In pace.
In peace, in peace.
Incedo per ignes.
I walk among the fire.
Incertus animus dimidium sapientiae est.
Doubt is half of wisdom.
Injuriam facilius facias guam feras.
It's easy to offend, harder to endure.
In me omnis spes mihi est.
All my hope is in myself.
In memoriam.
In memory.
Inter arma silent legs.
When weapons thunder, the laws are silent.
Inter parietes.
Within four walls.
In tyrannos.
Against tyrants.
In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas.
Truth is in wine, health is in water.
In venere semper certat dolor et gaudium.
In love, pain and joy always compete.
Ira initium insaniae est.
Anger is the beginning of madness.
Jactantius maerent, quae minus dolent.
Those who show their grief the most are those who mourn the least.
Jucundissimus est amari, sed non minus amare.
It is very pleasant to be loved, but it is no less pleasant to love yourself.
Lupus non mordet lupum.
A wolf will not bite a wolf.
Lupus pilum mutat, non mentem.
The wolf changes its fur, not its nature.
Mea mihi conscientia pluris est quam omnium sermo.
My conscience is more important to me than all the gossip.
Mea vita et anima es.
You are my life and soul.
Melius est nomen bonum quam magnae divitiae.
A good name is better than great wealth.
Meliora spero.
Hoping for the best.
Mens sana in corpore sano.
In a healthy body healthy mind.
Memento quia pulvis est.
Remember that you are dust.
Natura abhorret vacuum.
Nature abhors a vacuum.
Naturalia non sunt turpia.
Natural is not shameful.
Nitinur in vetitum semper, cupimusque negata.
We always strive for the forbidden and desire the forbidden.
(Ovid, "Love Elegies")
Nolite dicere, si nescitis.
Don't say if you don't know.
Non est fumus absque igne.
There is no smoke without fire.
Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.
Having experienced misfortune, I learned to help those who suffer.
(Virgil)
Non progredi est regredi.
Not moving forward means going backward.
Nunquam retrorsum, semper ingrediendum.
Not one step back, always forward.
Nusquam sunt, qui ubique sunt.
Those who are everywhere are nowhere.
Odi et amo.
I hate it and love it.
Omnes homines agunt histrionem.
All people are actors on the stage of life.
Omnes vulnerant, ultima necat.
Every hour hurts, the last one kills.
Omnia fluunt, omnia mutantur.
Everything flows, everything changes.
Omnia mors aequat.
Death equals everything.
Omnia praeclara rara.
Everything beautiful is rare.
(Cicero)
Omnia, quae volo, adipiscar.
I achieve everything I want.
Omnia vincit amor et nos cedamus amori.
Love conquers everything, and we submit to love.
Optimi consiliarii mortui.
The best advisors are dead ones.
Pecunia non olet.
Money doesn't smell.
Per fas et nefas.
By hook or by crook.
Per risum multum debes cognoscere stultum.
You should recognize a fool by his frequent laughter.
(Medieval proverb.)
Perigrinatio est vita.
Life is a journey.
Petite, et dabitur vobis; quaerite et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. (Matt. 7:7)
Quae fuerant vitia, mores sunt.
What were vices are now morals.
Quae nocent - docent.
What harms, it teaches.
Qui nisi sunt veri, ratio quoque falsa sit omnis.
If the feelings are not true, then our whole mind will turn out to be false.
Qui tacet - consentire videtur.
Whoever remains silent is considered to have agreed.
(Cf. Russian. Silence is a sign of consent.)
NEC MORTALE SONAT
(SOUNDS IMMORTAL)
Latin catchphrases
Amico lectori (To a friend-reader)
Necessitas magistra. - Need is a mentor (need will teach you everything).
[netsesitas master] Compare: “The need for invention is cunning”, “You will begin to weave bast shoes as if there is nothing to eat”, “If you get hungry, you will guess to get bread”, “A bag and prison will give you the mind.” A similar idea is found in the Roman poet Persia (“Satires”, “Prologue”, 10-11): “The teacher of the arts is the stomach.” From Greek authors - in Aristophanes’ comedy “Plutos” (532-534), where Poverty, which they want to expel from Hellas (Greece), proves that it is she, and not the god of wealth Plutos (to everyone’s joy, he was healed of blindness in the temple the god of healing Asclepius and now lavishing himself on mortals), is the giver of all benefits, forcing people to engage in sciences and crafts.
Nemo omnia potest scire. - Nobody can know everything.
[nemo omnia potest scire] The basis was the words of Horace (“Odes”, IV, 4, 22), taken as an epigraph to the Latin dictionary compiled by the Italian philologist Forcellini: “It is impossible to know everything.” Compare: “You cannot embrace the immensity.”
Nihil habeo, nihil timeo. - I have nothing - I’m not afraid of anything.
[nihil habeo, nihil timeo] Compare Juvenal (“Satires”, X, 22): “A traveler who has nothing with him will sing in the presence of a robber.” Also with the proverb “The rich man cannot sleep, he is afraid of the thief.”
Nil sub sole novum. - There is nothing new under the sun.
[nil sub sole novum] From the Book of Ecclesiastes (1, 9), the author of which is considered to be the wise King Solomon. The point is that a person is unable to come up with anything new, no matter what he does, and everything that happens to a person is not an exceptional phenomenon (as it sometimes seems to him), but has already happened before and will happen again after.
Noli nocere! - Do no harm!
[noli nocere!] The main commandment of a doctor, also known in the form “Primum non nocere” [primum non nocere] (“First of all, do no harm”). Formulated by Hippocrates.
Noli tangere circulos meos! - Don't touch my circles!
[noli tangere circulos meos!] About something inviolable, not subject to change, not allowing interference. It is based on the last words of the Greek mathematician and mechanic Archimedes, quoted by the historian Valery Maxim (“Memorable deeds and words”, VIII, 7, 7). Having taken Syracuse (Sicily) in 212 BC, the Romans gave him life, although the machines invented by the scientist sank and set fire to their ships. But the robbery began, and Roman soldiers entered Archimedes' courtyard and asked who he was. The scientist studied the drawing and instead of answering, covered it with his hand, saying: “Don’t touch this”; he was killed for disobedience. One of Felix Krivin’s “Scientific Tales” (“Archimedes”) is about this.
Nomen est omen. - The name is a sign.
[nomen est omen] In other words, the name speaks for itself: it tells something about a person, foreshadows his fate. It is based on Plautus’s comedy “Persus” (IV, 4, 625): selling a girl named Lucrida, which has the same root as the Latin lucrum (profit), to a pimp, Toxilus convinces him that such a name promises a lucrative deal.
Nomina sunt odiosa. -Names are not recommended.
[nomina sunt odioza] A call to speak to the point, without getting personal, and not to cite already well-known names. The basis is Cicero’s advice (“In Defense of Sextus Roscius the Americus,” XVI, 47) not to mention the names of acquaintances without their consent.
Non bis in idem. - Not twice for one.
[non bis in idem] This means that one is not punished twice for the same offense. Compare: “One ox cannot be skinned twice.”
Non curator, qui curat. - He who has worries is not cured.
[non curatur, qui curat] Inscription on the baths (public baths) in Ancient Rome.
Non est culpa vini, sed culpa bibentis. “It’s not the wine that’s to blame, it’s the drinker’s fault.”
[non est kulpa vini, sed kulpa bibentis] From the couplets of Dionysius Katbna (II, 21).
Non omnis moriar. - Not all of me will die.
[non omnis moriar] So Horace, in an ode (III, 30, 6), called “Monument” (see article “Exegi monumentum”), speaks of his poems, arguing that while the high priest ascends the Capitoline Hill, By performing the annual prayer service for the good of Rome (which the Romans, like us, called the Eternal City), his, Horace’s, unfading glory will increase. This motif is heard in all the rehashes of “Monument”. For example, from Lomonosov (“I erected a sign of immortality for myself...”): “I will not die at all, but death will leave // a great part of me, as I end my life.” Or from Pushkin (“I erected a monument to myself, not made by hands...”): Met, all of me will not die - the soul in the treasured lyre // my ashes will survive and will escape decay.”
Non progredi est regredi. - Not going forward means going backwards.
[non progrady est regrady]
Non rex est lex, sed lex est rex. - The king is not the law, but the law is the king.
[non rex est lex, sad lex est rex]
Non scholae, sed vitae discimus. - We study not for school, but for life.
[non schole, sed vitae discimus] It is based on Seneca’s reproach (“Moral Letters to Lucilius”, 106, 12) to armchair philosophers, whose thoughts are divorced from reality, and whose mind is cluttered with useless information.
Non semper erunt Saturnalia. - There will not always be Saturnalia (holidays, carefree days).
[non semper erunt saturnalia] Compare: “Not everything is for Maslenitsa”, “Not everything is in stock, you can live with kvass.” Found in the work attributed to Seneca, “The Apotheosis of the Divine Claudius” (12). Saturnalia was celebrated annually in December (from 494 BC), in memory of the golden age (the era of prosperity, equality, peace), when, according to legend, Saturn, the father of Jupiter, reigned in the region of Latium (where Rome was located). People were having fun in the streets, visiting people; Work, legal proceedings, and the development of military plans stopped. For one day (December 19), the slaves received freedom and sat at the same table with their modestly dressed masters, who, moreover, served them.
Non sum qualis eram. - I'm not the same as I was before.
[non sum qualis eram] Having aged, Horace (“Odes”, IV, 1, 3) asks
the goddess of love, Venus, leave him alone.
Nosce te ipsum. - Know yourself.
[nosse te ipsum] According to legend, this inscription was inscribed on the pediment of the famous Temple of Apollo in Delphi (Central Greece). They said that once seven Greek sages (6th century BC) gathered near the Delphic temple and laid this saying as the basis of all Hellenic (Greek) wisdom. The Greek original of this phrase, “gnothi seauton” [gnothi seauton], is given by Juvenal (“Satires”, XI, 27).
Novus rex, nova lex. - New king - new law.
[novus rex, nova lex] Compare: “A new broom sweeps in a new way.”
Nulla ars in se versatur. - Not a single art (not a single science) is self-contained.
[nulla are in se versatur] Cicero (“On the Boundaries of Good and Evil”, V, 6, 16) says that the goal of every science lies outside it: for example, healing is the science of health.
Nulla calamitas sola. - Trouble does not [go] alone.
[nulla kalamitas sola] Compare: “Trouble has come - open the gates,” “Trouble brings seven troubles.”
Nulla dies sine linea. - Not a day without a line.
[nulla diez sine linea] A call to practice your art daily; An excellent motto for an artist, writer, publisher. The source is the story of Pliny the Elder (“Natural History”, XXXV, 36, 12) about Apelles, a Greek painter of the 4th century. BC, who drew at least one line every day. Pliny himself, a politician and scientist, the author of the 37-volume encyclopedic work “Natural History” (“History of Nature”), which contains about 20,000 facts (from mathematics to art history) and used information from the works of almost 400 authors, followed this rule all his life Apelles, which became the basis for the couplet: “According to the behest of Elder Pliny, // Nulla dies sine linea.”
Nulla salus bello. - There is no good in war.
[nulla salus bello] In Virgil’s “Aeneid” (XI, 362), the noble Latin Drank asks the king of the Rutuli, Turnus, to put an end to the war with Aeneas, in which many Latins are dying: either to retire, or to fight the hero one on one, so that the king’s daughter Latina and the kingdom went to the winner.
Nunc vino pellite curas. - Now drive away your worries with wine.
[nunc wine pallite kuras] In Horace’s ode (I, 7, 31) this is how Teucer addresses his companions, forced after returning from the Trojan War to his native island of Salamis to go into exile again (see “Ubi bene, ibi patria”).
Oh rus! - Oh village!
[oh rus!] “Oh village! When will I see you! - exclaims Horace (“Satires”, II, 6, 60), telling how, after a hectic day spent in Rome, having decided a bunch of things on the go, he strives with all his soul to a quiet corner - an estate in the Sabine Mountains, which has long been the subject of his dreams (see “Hoc erat in votis”) and given to him by Maecenas, a friend of Emperor Augustus. The patron also helped other poets (Virgil, Proportion), but it was thanks to Horace’s poems that his name became famous and came to mean every patron of the arts. In the epigraph to the 2nd chapter of “Eugene Onegin” (“The village where Eugene was bored was a lovely corner...”), Pushkin used a pun: “Oh rus! O Rus'! »
O sancta simplicitas! - Oh holy simplicity!
[oh sankta simplicitas!] About someone’s naivety, slow-wittedness. According to legend, the phrase was uttered by Jan Hus (1371-1415), the ideologist of the Church Reformation in the Czech Republic, when during his burning as a heretic by the verdict of the Constance Church Council, some pious old woman threw an armful of brushwood into the fire. Jan Hus preached in Prague; he demanded equal rights between the laity and the clergy, called Christ the only head of the church, the only source of doctrine - the Holy Scripture, and called some popes heretics. The Pope summoned Hus to the Council to present his point of view, promising safety, but then, after holding him for 7 months in captivity and executing him, he said that he was not keeping his promises to the heretics.
O tempora! oh more! - Oh times! oh morals!
[oh tempora! oh mores!] Perhaps the most famous expression is from the first speech of Cicero (consul 63 BC) against the conspiratorial senator Catiline (I, 2), which is considered the pinnacle of Roman oratory. Revealing the details of the conspiracy at a meeting of the Senate, Cicero in this phrase is indignant at both the impudence of Catiline, who dared to appear in the Senate as if nothing had happened, although his intentions were known to everyone, and the inaction of the authorities in relation to the criminal plotting the death of the Republic; whereas in the old days they killed people who were less dangerous to the state. Usually the expression is used to state the decline of morals, condemn an entire generation, emphasizing the unheard-of nature of the event.
Occidat, dum imperet. - Let him kill, as long as he reigns.
[occidate, dum imperet] Thus, according to the historian Tacitus (Annals, XIV, 9), the power-hungry Agrippina, the great-granddaughter of Augustus, answered the astrologers who predicted that her son Nero would become emperor, but would kill his mother. Indeed, 11 years later, Agrippina’s husband became her uncle, Emperor Claudius, whom she poisoned 6 years later, in 54 AD, passing the throne to her son. Subsequently, Agrippina became one of the victims of the suspicion of the cruel emperor. After unsuccessful attempts to poison her, Nero engineered a shipwreck; and upon learning that the mother had escaped, he ordered her to be stabbed with a sword (Suetonius, “Nero”, 34). A painful death also awaited him (see “Qualis artifex pereo”).
Oderint, dum metuant. - Let them hate, as long as they are afraid.
[oderint, dum metuant] The expression usually characterizes power, which rests on the fear of subordinates. Source - the words of the cruel king Atreus from the tragedy of the same name by the Roman playwright Actium (II-I centuries BC). According to Suetonius (“Gaius Caligula”, 30), the emperor Caligula (12-41 AD) liked to repeat them. Even as a child, he loved to be present at tortures and executions, every 10th day he signed sentences, demanding that the convicts be executed with small, frequent blows. The fear among people was so great that many did not immediately believe the news of Caligula’s murder as a result of a conspiracy, believing that he himself spread these rumors in order to find out what they thought about him (Suetonius, 60).
Oderint, dum pront. - Let them hate, as long as they support.
[oderint, dum probent] According to Suetonius (Tiberius, 59), this is what Emperor Tiberius (42 BC - 37 AD) said when reading anonymous poems about his mercilessness. Even in childhood, the character of Tiberius was astutely determined by the teacher of eloquence Theodore of Gadar, who, scolding him, called him “dirt mixed with blood” (“Tiberius”, 57).
Odero, si potero. - I’ll hate you if I can [and if I can’t, I’ll love against my will].
[odero, si potero] Ovid (“Love Elegies”, III, 11, 35) talks about the attitude towards an insidious girlfriend.
Od(i) et amo. - I hate and love.
[odet amo] From Catullus’s famous couplet about love and hate (No. 85): “Though I hate, I love. Why? - perhaps you’ll ask.// I don’t understand it myself, but feeling it inside myself, I’m crumbling” (translated by A. Fet). Perhaps the poet wants to say that he no longer feels the same sublime, respectful feeling for his unfaithful friend, but he cannot physically stop loving her and hates himself (or her?) for this, realizing that he is betraying himself, his understanding of love. The fact that these two opposing feelings are equally present in the hero’s soul is emphasized by the equal number of syllables in the Latin verbs “hate” and “love.” Perhaps this is also why there is still no adequate Russian translation of this poem.
Oleum et operam perdidi. - I [wasted] oil and labor.
[oleum et operam perdidi] This is what a person who has wasted time, worked to no avail, and has not received the expected results, can say about himself. The proverb is found in Plautus’s comedy “The Punic” (I, 2, 332), where the girl, whose two companions the young man noticed and greeted first, sees that she tried in vain, dressing up and anointing herself with oil. Cicero gives a similar expression, speaking not only about oil for anointing (“Letters to Relatives”, VII, 1, 3), but also about oil for illumination, used during work (“Letters to Atticus”, II, 17, 1) . We will find a statement similar in meaning in Petronius’s novel “Satyricon” (CXXXIV).
Omnia mea mecum porto. - I carry everything I have with me.
[omnia mea mekum porto] Source - the legend told by Cicero (“Paradoxes”, I, 1, 8) about Biantes, one of the seven Greek sages (VI century BC). His city of Prien was attacked by enemies, and the inhabitants, hastily leaving their homes, tried to take with them as many things as possible. When asked to do the same, Biant replied that this is exactly what he was doing, because always carries within itself its true, inalienable wealth, for which no bundles and bags are needed - the treasures of the soul, the wealth of the mind. It’s a paradox, but now Biant’s words are often used when they carry things with them for all occasions (for example, all their documents). The expression can also indicate a low level of income.
Omnia mutantur, mutabantur, mutabuntur. - Everything is changing, has changed and will change.
[omnia mutatur, mutabantur, mutabuntur]
Omnia praeclara rara. - Everything beautiful [is] rare.
[omnia preclara papa] Cicero (“Laelius, or On Friendship,” XXI, 79) talks about how difficult it is to find a true friend. Hence the final words of Spinoza’s Ethics (V, 42): “Everything beautiful is as difficult as it is rare” (about how difficult it is to free the soul from prejudices and affects). Compare with the Greek proverb "Kala halepa" ("The beautiful is difficult"), quoted in Plato's dialogue "Hippias Major" (304 f), which discusses the essence of beauty.
Omnia vincit amor, . - Love conquers everything, [and we will submit to love!]
[omnia voncit amor, et nos cedamus amor] Short version: “Amor omnia vincit” [amor omnia vincit] (“Love conquers all”). Compare: “Even if you drown yourself, you still get along with your sweetheart,” “Love and death know no barriers.” The source of the expression is Virgil's Bucolics (X, 69).
Optima sunt communia. - The best belongs to everyone.
[optima sunt communia] Seneca (“Moral Letters to Lucilius”, 16, 7) says that he considers all true thoughts to be his own.
Optimum medicamentum quies est. - The best medicine is peace.
[optimum medicamentum quies est] The saying belongs to the Roman physician Cornelius Celsus (“Sentences”, V, 12).
Otia dant vita. - Idleness breeds vices.
[otsia dant vicia] Compare: “Labor feeds, but laziness spoils”, “Idleness makes money, but the will is strengthened in work.” Also with the statement of the Roman statesman and writer Cato the Elder (234-149 BC), cited by Columella, a writer of the 1st century. AD (“On Agriculture”, XI, 1, 26): “By doing nothing, people learn bad deeds.”
otium cum dignitate - worthy leisure (given to literature, arts, sciences)
[ocium cum dignitate] Definition of Cicero (“On the Orator”, 1.1, 1), who, after retiring from the affairs of the state, devoted his free time to writing.
Otium post negotium. - Rest - after business.
[ocium post negotsium] Compare: “If you’ve done the job, go for a walk safely,” “It’s time for work, it’s time for fun.”
Pacta sunt servanda. - Agreements must be respected.
[pakta sunt sirvanda] Compare: “An agreement is more valuable than money.”
Paete, non dolet. - Pet, it doesn’t hurt (there’s nothing wrong with that).
[pete, non dolet] The expression is used in order to convince a person by personal example to try something unknown to him, causing concern. These famous words of Arria, the wife of the consul Caecina Petus, who participated in the failed conspiracy against the weak-minded and cruel emperor Claudius (42 AD), are quoted by Pliny the Younger (“Letters”, III, 16, 6). The conspiracy was discovered, its organizer Skribonian was executed. Pet, sentenced to death, had to commit suicide within a certain period of time, but could not decide. And one day his wife, at the conclusion of the agreement, pierced herself with her husband’s dagger, with these words, took it out of the wound and gave it to Pet.
Pallet: aut amat, aut studet. - Pale: either in love, or studying.
[pallet: out amat, out studet] Medieval saying.
pallida morte futura - pale in the face of death (pale as death)
[pallida morte futura] Virgil (Aeneid, IV, 645) speaks of the Carthaginian queen Dido, abandoned by Aeneas, who decided in a fit of madness to commit suicide. Pale, with bloodshot eyes, she rushed through the palace. The hero, who left Dido on the orders of Jupiter (see “Naviget, haec summa (e) sl”), seeing the glow of a funeral pyre from the deck of the ship, felt that something terrible had happened (V, 4-7).
Panem et circenses! - Meal'n'Real!
[panem et circenses!] Usually characterizes the limited desires of ordinary people who are not at all concerned about serious issues in the life of the country. In this exclamation, the poet Juvenal (“Satires”, X, 81) reflected the main demand of the idle Roman mob in the era of the Empire. Having come to terms with the loss of political rights, the poor people were content with the handouts with which dignitaries sought popularity among the people - the distribution of free bread and the organization of free circus shows (chariot races, gladiator fights), and costume battles. Every day, according to the law of 73 BC, poor Roman citizens (there were about 200,000 in the 1st-2nd centuries AD) received 1.5 kg of bread; then they also introduced the distribution of butter, meat, and money.
Parvi liberi, parvum maluni. - Small children are small troubles.
[parvi liberi, parvum malum] Compare: “Big children are big and poor”, “With small children it’s woe, but with big children it’s twice as bad”, “A small child sucks the breast, but a big one sucks the heart”, “A small child cannot sleep gives, but the big thing is to live.”
Parvum parva decent. - Small things suit small people.
[parvum parva detsent (parvum parva detsent)] Horace (“Epistle”, I, 7, 44), addressing his patron and friend Maecenas, whose name later became a household name, says that he is completely satisfied with his estate in the Sabine Mountains (see. “Hoc erat in votis”) and he is not attracted to life in the capital.
Pauper ubique jacet. - The poor thing is defeated everywhere.
[pavper ubikve yatset] Compare: “All the cones fall on poor Makar”, “On the poor man the censer smokes.” From Ovid's poem "Fasti" (I, 218).
Pecunia nervus belli. - Money is the nerve (driving force) of war.
[pecunia nervus belli] The expression is found in Cicero (Philippics, V, 2, 6).
Peccant reges, plectuntur Achivi. - The kings sin, and the [ordinary] Achaeans (Greeks) suffer.
[pekkant reges, plektuntur ahivi] Compare: “The bars fight, but the men’s forelocks crack.” It is based on the words of Horace (“Epistle”, I, 2, 14), who tells how the Greek hero Achilles, insulted by King Agamemnon (see “inutil terrae pondus”), refused to participate in the Trojan War, which led to defeat and death many Achaeans.
Pecunia non olet. - Money doesn't smell.
[pekunya non olet] In other words, money is always money, regardless of its source of origin. According to Suetonius (“The Divine Vespasian,” 23), when Emperor Vespasian imposed a tax on public toilets, his son Titus began to reproach his father. Vespasian brought a coin from the first profit to his son’s nose and asked if it smelled. “Non olet” (“It does not smell”), answered Titus.
Per aspera ad astra. - Through thorns (difficulties) to the stars.
[peer aspera ad astra] A call to go towards the goal, overcoming all obstacles along the way. In reverse order: "Ad astra per aspera" is the motto of the state of Kansas.
Pereat mundus, fiat justitia! - Let the world perish, but justice will be done!
[pereat mundus, fiat justitia!] “Fiat justitia, pereat mundus” (“Let justice be done and let the world perish”) is the motto of Ferdinand I, Emperor (1556-1564) of the Holy Roman Empire, expressing the desire to restore justice at any cost. The expression is often quoted with the last word replaced.
Periculum in mora. - The danger is in delay. (Delay is like death.)
[periculum in mora] Titus Livius (“History of Rome from the Founding of the City,” XXXVIII, 25, 13) speaks of the Romans, pressed by the Gauls, who fled, seeing that they could no longer hesitate.
Plaudite, cives! - Applaud, citizens!
[plaudite, tsives!] One of the final addresses of Roman actors to the audience (see also “Valete et plaudite”). According to Suetonius (The Divine Augustus, 99), before his death, Emperor Augustus asked (in Greek) his friends as they entered to clap if, in their opinion, he had played the comedy of life well.
Plenus venter non studet libenter. - A full belly is deaf to learning.
[plenus vanter non studet libenter]
plus sonat, quam valet - more ringing than meaning (more ringing than it weighs)
[plus sonata, quam jack] Seneca (“Moral Letters to Lucilius”, 40, 5) speaks of the speeches of demagogues.
Poete nascuntur, oratores fiunt. - People are born poets, but become orators.
[poete naskuntur, oratbres fiunt] It is based on words from Cicero’s speech “In defense of the poet Aulus Licinius Archias” (8, 18).
pollice verso - with a turned finger (finish him off!)
[pollitse verso] By turning the lowered thumb of the right hand to the chest, the spectators decided the fate of the defeated gladiator: the winner, who received a bowl of gold coins from the organizers of the games, had to finish him off. The expression is found in Juvenal (“Satires”, III, 36-37).
Populus remedia cupit. - People are hungry for medicine.
[populus ramdia will buy] Saying of Galen, personal physician of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161-180), his son-in-law-co-ruler Verus and son Commodus.
Post nubila sol. - After bad weather - the sun.
[post by nubila sol] Compare: “Not everything is bad weather, there will be a red sun.” It is based on a poem by the New Latin poet Alan of Lille (12th century): “After the dark clouds, the sun is more comforting to us than the usual; // so love after quarrels will seem brighter” (translated by the compiler). Compare with the motto of Geneva: “Post tenebras lux” (“After darkness, light”).
Primum vivere, deinde philosophari. - First to live, and only then to philosophize.
[primum vivere, deinde philosophari] A call to experience and experience a lot before talking about life. In the mouth of a person associated with science, it means that the joys of everyday life are not alien to him.
primus inter pares - first among equals
[primus inter pares] On the position of the monarch in a feudal state. The formula dates back to the time of Emperor Augustus, who, fearing the fate of his predecessor, Julius Caesar (he was too clearly striving for sole power and was killed in 44 BC, as see in the article “Et tu, Brute!” ), maintained the appearance of a republic and freedom, calling himself primus inter pares (since his name was in first place on the list of senators), or princeps (i.e., first citizen). Hence, established by Augustus by 27 BC. a form of government when all republican institutions were preserved (Senate, elected offices, national assembly), but in fact power belonged to one person, is called the principate.
Prior tempore - potior jure. - First in time - first in right.
[prior tempore - potior yure] A legal norm called the right of the first owner (first seizure). Compare: “He who ripened, ate.”
pro aris et focis - for altars and hearths [to fight]
[about aris et focis] In other words, to protect everything that is most precious. Found in Titus Livy (“History of Rome from the Founding of the City”, IX, 12, 6).
Procul ab oculis, procul ex mente. - Out of sight, out of mind.
[proculus ab oculis, proculus ex mente]
Procul, profani! - Go away, uninitiated!
[prokul este, profane!] Usually this is a call not to judge things that you don’t understand. Epigraph to Pushkin’s poem “The Poet and the Crowd” (1828). In Virgil (Aeneid, VI, 259), the prophetess Sibyl exclaims this way, hearing the howling of dogs - a sign of the approach of the goddess Hecate, mistress of shadows: “Strangers to the mysteries, go away! Leave the grove immediately!” (translated by S. Osherov). The seer drives away the companions of Aeneas, who came to her to find out how he can go down to the kingdom of the dead and see his father there. The hero himself was already initiated into the mystery of what was happening thanks to the golden branch that he plucked in the forest for the mistress of the underworld, Proserpina (Persephone).
Proserpina nullum caput fugit. - Proserpine (death) spares no one.
[proserpina nullum kaput fugit] It is based on the words of Horace (“Odes”, I, 28, 19-20). About Proserpina, see the previous article.
Pulchra res homo est, si homo est. - A person is beautiful if he is a person.
[pulhra res homo est, si homo est] Compare in Sophocles’ tragedy “Antigone” (340-341): “There are many miracles in the world, // man is the most wonderful of them all” (translated by S. Shervinsky and N. Poznyakov). In the original Greek - the definition is “deinos” (terrible, but also wonderful). The point is that great powers lie hidden in a person, with their help you can do good or evil deeds, it all depends on the person himself.
Qualis artifex pereo! - What artist dies!
[qualis artifex pereo!] About something valuable that is not used for its intended purpose, or about a person who has not realized himself. According to Suetonius (Nero, 49), these words were repeated before his death (68 AD) by Emperor Nero, who considered himself a great tragic singer and loved to perform in theaters in Rome and Greece. The Senate declared him an enemy and sought him out for execution according to the custom of his ancestors (the criminal had his head clamped with a block and flogged with rods until death), but Nero still hesitated to give up his life. He ordered to dig a grave, then to bring water and firewood, all exclaiming that a great artist was dying in him. Only when he heard the approach of the horsemen who were instructed to take him alive, Nero, with the help of the freedman Phaon, plunged a sword into his throat.
Qualis pater, talis filius. - Such is the father, such is the fellow. (Like father, like son.)
[qualis pater, talis filius]
Qualis rex, talis grex. - Like the king, such is the people (i.e., like the priest, such is the parish).
[qualis rex, talis grex]
Qualis vir, talis oratio. - What is the husband (person), such is the speech.
[qualis vir, talis et orazio] From the maxims of Publilius Sir (No. 848): “Speech is a reflection of the mind: as the man is, so is speech.” Compare: “To know a bird by its feathers, and a fellow by its speech,” “Like a priest, such is his prayer.”
Qualis vita, et mors ita. - As life is, so is death.
[qualis vita, et mors ita] Compare: “A dog’s death is a dog’s death.”
Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus. - Sometimes the glorious Homer dozes (makes mistakes).
[quandokwe bonus dormitat homerus] Horace (“The Science of Poetry,” 359) says that even in Homer’s poems there are weak points. Compare: “Even the sun has spots.”
Qui amat me, amat et canem meum. - Whoever loves me loves my dog.
[kwi amat me, amat et kanem meum]
Qui canit arte, canat, ! - He who can sing, let him sing, [he who can drink, let him drink]!
[kwi kanit arte, rope, kwi bibit arte, bibat!] Ovid (“Science of Love”, II, 506) advises the lover to reveal all his talents to his girlfriend.
Qui bene amat, bene castigat. - He who sincerely loves, sincerely (from the heart) punishes.
[kwi bene amat, bene castigat] Compare: “He loves like a soul, but shakes like a pear.” Also in the Bible (Proverbs of Solomon, 3, 12): “Whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and favors, as a father does to his son.”
Qui multum alphabet, plus cupit. - He who has a lot wants [even] more.
[kwi multitum habet, plus buy] Compare: “Whoever is overflowing, give more,” “Appetite comes with eating,” “The more you eat, the more you want.” The expression is found in Seneca (“Moral Letters to Lucilius”, 119, 6).
Qui non zelat, non amat. - He who is not jealous does not love.
[kwi non zelat, non amat]
Qui scribit, bis legit. - He who writes reads twice.
[kwi skribit, bis legit]
Qui terret, plus ipse timet. - He who inspires fear fears himself even more.
[kwi terret, plus ipse timet]
Qui totum vult, totum perdit. - He who wants everything loses everything.
[kwi totum vult, totum perdit]
Quia nominor leo. - For my name is Lion.
[quia nominor leo] About the right of the strong and influential. In the fable of Phaedrus (I, 5, 7), the lion, hunting together with a cow, a goat and a sheep, explained to them why he took the first quarter of the prey (he took the second for his help, the third because he was stronger, and he forbade even touching the fourth).
Quid est veritas? - What is truth?
[quid est varitas?] In the Gospel of John (18, 38) this is the famous question that Pontius Pilate, procurator of the Roman province of Judea, asked Jesus, who was brought before him for trial, in response to His words: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world to testify to the truth; everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37).
Quid opus nota noscere? - Why try what has been tried and tested?
[quid opus nota nossere?] Plautus (“The Boastful Warrior”, II, 1) speaks of excessive suspicion towards people who have proven themselves.
Quidquid discis, tibi discis. - Whatever you study, you study for yourself.
[quidquid discis, tibi discis] The expression is found in Petronius (Satyricon, XLVI).
Quidquid latet, apparebit. - Everything secret will become clear.
[quidquid latet, apparebit] From the Catholic hymn “Dies irae” (“Day of Wrath”), which speaks of the coming day of the Last Judgment. The basis of the expression, apparently, was the words from the Gospel of Mark (4, 22; or from Luke, 8, 17): “For there is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest, nor hidden that will not be made known and revealed would".
Legiones redde. - [Quintilius Bap,] return [to me] the legions.
[quintiles ware, legiones redde] Regret over an irretrievable loss or a call to return something that belongs to you (sometimes simply said “Legiones redde”). According to Suetonius (The Divine Augustus, 23), Emperor Augustus exclaimed this repeatedly after the crushing defeat of the Romans under Quintilius Varus from the Germans in the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD), where three legions were destroyed. Having learned about the misfortune, Augustus did not cut his hair or beard for several months in a row, and celebrated the day of defeat every year with mourning. The expression is given in Montaigne’s “Essays”: in this chapter (Book I, Chapter 4) we are talking about human incontinence, worthy of condemnation.
Quis bene celat amorem? -Who successfully hides love?
[quis bene tselat amorem?] Compare: “Love is like a cough: you can’t hide it from people.” Quoted by Ovid (“Heroids”, XII, 37) in the love letter of the sorceress Medea to her husband Jason. She remembers the first time she saw a beautiful stranger who arrived on the ship "Argo" for the golden fleece - the skin of a golden ram, and how Jason instantly felt Medea's love for him.
[quis leget hek?] This is what Persia, one of the most difficult Roman authors to understand, says about his satires (I, 2), arguing that for a poet his own opinion is more important than the recognition of his readers.
Quo vadis? - Are you coming? (Where are you going?)
[quo vadis?] According to church tradition, during the persecution of Christians in Rome under Emperor Nero (c. 65), the Apostle Peter decided to leave his flock and find himself a new place for life and deeds. Leaving the city, he saw Jesus heading to Rome. In response to the question: “Quo vadis, Domine? "("Where are you going, Lord?") - Christ said that he was going to Rome to die again for a people deprived of a shepherd. Peter returned to Rome and was executed along with the Apostle Paul captured in Jerusalem. Considering that he was not worthy to die like Jesus, he asked to be crucified head down. With the question “Quo vadis, Domine?” in the Gospel of John, the apostles Peter (13, 36) and Thomas (14, 5) turned to Christ during the Last Supper.
Quod dubitas, ne feceris. - If you doubt it, don’t do it.
[quod dubitas, ne fetseris] The expression is found in Pliny the Younger (“Letters”, I, 18, 5). Cicero speaks about this (“On Duties”, I, 9, 30).
Quod licet, ingratum (e)st. - What is permitted does not attract.
[quod litset, ingratum est] In Ovid’s poem (“Love Elegies”, II, 19, 3) the lover asks the husband to guard his wife, if only so that the other would burn hotter with passion for her: after all, “there is no taste in what is permitted, prohibition excites more sharply "(translated by S. Shervinsky).
Quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi. - What is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull.
[kvod litset yovi, non litset bovi] Compare: “It’s up to the abbot, but it’s up to the brethren!”, “What the lord can do, Ivan can’t.”
Quod petis, est nusquam. “What you crave is nowhere to be found.”
[quod petis, est nusquam] Ovid in the poem “Metamorphoses” (III, 433) addresses the beautiful young man Narcissus this way. Rejecting the love of the nymphs, he was punished for this by the goddess of retribution, having fallen in love with what he could not possess - his own reflection in the waters of the source (since then, a narcissist is called a narcissist).
Quod scripsi, scripsi. - What I wrote, I wrote.
[kvod skripsi, skripsi] Usually this is a categorical refusal to correct or redo your work. According to the Gospel of John (19, 22), this is how the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate responded to the Jewish high priests, who insisted that on the cross where Jesus was crucified, instead of the inscription made by order of Pilate, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (according to Hebrew, Greek and Latin - 19, 19), it was written “He said: “I am the King of the Jews” (19, 21).
Quod uni dixeris, omnibus dixeris. -What you say to one, you say to everyone.
[quod uni dixeris, omnibus dixeris]
Quos ego! - Here I am! (Well, I'll show you!)
[ques ego! (quos ego!)] In Virgil (“Aeneid”, 1.135) these are the words of the god Neptune, addressed to the winds that, without his knowledge, had disturbed the sea in order to smash the ships of Aeneas (the mythical ancestor of the Romans) against the rocks, thereby rendering a service unfavorable to to the hero Juno, wife of Jupiter.
Quot homines, tot sententiae. - How many people, so many opinions.
[quote homines, that sententie] Compare: “One hundred heads, one hundred minds”, “There is no need for a mind”, “Everyone has a head of their own” (Gregory Skovoroda). The phrase is found in Terence’s comedy “Formion” (II, 4, 454), in Cicero (“On the Boundaries of Good and Evil”, I, 5, 15).
Re bene gesta. - Do - do so,
[re bene gesta]
Rem tene, verba sequentur. - Comprehend the essence (master the essence), and the words will appear.
[rem tene, verba sequintur] The words of an orator and politician of the 2nd century given in a late textbook on rhetoric. BC. Cato the Elder. Compare Horace (“The Science of Poetry,” 311): “If the subject becomes clear, the words will be chosen without difficulty” (translated by M. Gasparov). Umberto Eco (“The Name of the Rose.” - M.: Book Chamber, 1989. - P. 438) says that if to write a novel he had to learn everything about a medieval monastery, then in poetry the principle “Verba tene, res sequentur” applies. (“Master the words, and the objects will appear”).
Repetitio est mater studiorum.-Repetition is the mother of learning.
[rapetizio est mater studiorum]
Requiem aeternam. - Eternal peace [grant them, Lord].
[requiem eternam dona eis, domine] The beginning of the Catholic funeral mass, whose first word (requiem - peace) gave the name to many musical compositions written on its words; Of these, the most famous are the works of Mozart and Verdi. The set and order of the texts of the requiem were finally established in the 14th century. in the Roman rite and was approved by the Council of Trent (which ended in 1563), which prohibited the use of alternative texts.
Requiescat in pace. (R.I.P.) - May he rest in peace,
[requiescat in patse] In other words, peace be upon his (her) ashes. The closing phrase of a Catholic funeral prayer and a common epitaph. The parody “Requiescat in pice” can be addressed to sinners and enemies - “Let him rest (let him rest) in tar.”
Res ipsa loquitur.-The thing speaks for itself [for itself].
[res ipsa lokvitur] Compare: “A good product praises itself,” “A good piece will find its own mouth.”
Res, non verba. - [We need] deeds, not words.
[res, non verba]
Res sacra miser. - Unfortunate is a sacred matter.
[res sakra miser] Inscription on the building of a former charitable society in Warsaw.
Roma locuta, causa finita. - Rome has spoken, the matter is over.
[roma lokuta, kavza finita] Usually this is a recognition of someone’s right to be the main authority in a given field and to decide the outcome of a case with their opinion. The opening phrase of the bull of 416, where Pope Innocent approved the decision of the Synod of Carthage to excommunicate the opponents of St. Augustine (354-430), a philosopher and theologian. Then these words became a formula (“the papal curia made its final decision”).
Saepe stilum vertas. - Rotate your style more often.
[sepe stylem vertas] Style (stylos) is a stick, with the sharp end of which the Romans wrote on waxed tablets (see “tabula rasa”), and with the other, in the shape of a spatula, they erased what was written. Horace (“Satires”, I, 10, 73) with this phrase calls on poets to carefully finish their works.
Salus populi suprema lex. - The good of the people is the highest law.
[salus populi suprema lex] The expression is found in Cicero (“On the Laws”, III, 3, 8). "Salus populi suprema lex esto" [esto] ("The welfare of the people be the supreme law") is the motto of the state of Missouri.
Sapere aude. - Strive to be wise (usually: strive for knowledge, dare to know).
[sapere avde] Horace (“Epistle”, I, 2, 40) speaks of the desire to rationally arrange one’s life.
Sapienti sat. - Smart enough.
[sapienti sat] Compare: “Intelligent: pauca” [intelligenti pavka] - “Not much [is enough] for someone who understands” (an intellectual is someone who understands), “A smart person will understand at a glance.” It is found, for example, in Terence’s comedy “Formion” (III, 3, 541). The young man instructed a resourceful slave to get money and when asked where to get it, he replied: “Father is here. - I know. What? “That’s enough for the smart one” (translated by A. Artyushkov).
Sapientia governor navis. - Wisdom is the helmsman of the ship.
[sapiencia governor navis] Given in a collection of aphorisms compiled by Erasmus of Rotterdam (“Adagia”, V, 1, 63), with reference to Titinius, a Roman comedian of the 2nd century. BC. (fragment No. 127): “The helmsman steers the ship with wisdom, not strength.” The ship has long been considered a symbol of the state, as can be seen from the poem of the Greek lyricist Alcaeus (VII-VI centuries BC) under the code name “New Shaft”.
Sapientis est mutare consilium. - It is common for a wise person [not to be ashamed] to change [his] opinion.
[sapientis est mutare consultation]
Satis vixi vel vitae vel gloriae. - I have lived enough for both life and glory.
[satis vixie val vitae val glorie] Cicero (“On the return of Marcus Claudius Marcellus,” 8, 25) quotes these words of Caesar, telling him that he has not lived enough for his homeland, which has suffered civil wars, and alone is capable of healing its wounds.
Scientia est potentia. - Knowledge is power.
[scientia est potency] Compare: “Without sciences it’s like without hands.” It is based on the statement of the English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626) about the identity of knowledge and human power over nature (“New Organon”, I, 3): science is not an end in itself, but a means to increase this power. S
cio me nihil scire. - I know that I don't know anything.
[scio me nihil scire] Translation into Latin of the famous words of Socrates, quoted by his student Plato (“Apology of Socrates”, 21 d). When the Delphic oracle (the oracle of the temple of Apollo in Delphi) called Socrates the wisest of the Hellenes (Greeks), he was surprised, because he believed that he knew nothing. But then, having started talking with people who insisted that they knew a lot, and asking them the most important and, at first glance, simple questions (what is virtue, beauty), he realized that, unlike others, he knew at least this that he knows nothing. Compare the Apostle Paul (Corinthians, I, 8, 2): “Whoever thinks that he knows something, still knows nothing as he ought to know.”
Semper avarus eget. - A stingy person is always in need.
[samper avarus eget] Horace (“Epistle”, I, 2, 56) advises to curb your desires: “The greedy is always in need - so set a limit to lusts” (translated by N. Gunzburg). Compare: “The stingy rich man is poorer than the beggar”, “It is not the poor one who has little, but the one who wants a lot”, “It is not the poor one who has nothing, but the one who rakes in”, “No matter how much a dog grabs, a well-fed one cannot happen”, “You can’t fill a bottomless barrel, you can’t feed a greedy belly.” Also from Sallust (“On the Conspiracy of Catalina”, 11, 3): “Greed is not diminished by either wealth or poverty.” Or from Publilius Syrus (Sentences, No. 320): “Poverty lacks little, greed lacks everything.”
semper idem; semper eadem - always the same; always the same (same)
[samper idem; semper idem] “Semper idem” can be considered as a call to maintain peace of mind in any situation, not to lose face, to remain yourself. Cicero in his treatise “On Duties” (I, 26, 90) says that only insignificant people do not know the measure of either sorrow or joy: after all, in any circumstances it is better to have “an even character, always the same facial expression” ( translated by V. Gorenshtein). As Cicero says in “Tusculan Conversations” (III, 15, 31), this is exactly what Socrates was: the grumpy wife of Xanthippe scolded the philosopher precisely because the expression on his face was unchanged, “after all, his spirit, imprinted on his face, did not know changes "(translated by M. Gasparov).
Senectus ipsa morbus.-Old age itself is [already] a disease.
[senectus ipsa morbus] Source - Terence’s comedy “Formion” (IV, 1, 574-575), where Khremet explains to his brother why he was so slow in coming to his wife and daughter, who remained on the island of Lemnos, that when he finally got ready to go there, I learned that they themselves had long since gone to see him in Athens: “I was detained by illness.” - "What? Which one? - “Here’s another question! Isn’t old age a disease?” (Translated by A. Artyushkova)
Seniores priores. - Elders have advantage.
[seniores priores] For example, this can be said by skipping the eldest in age forward.
Sero venientibus ossa. - Those who come late [get] the bones.
[sero venientibus ossa] A Roman greeting to late guests (the expression is also known in the form “Tarde [tarde] venientibus ossa”). Compare: “The last guest eats a bone,” “The late guest eats bones,” “Whoever is late drinks water.”
Si felix esse vis, esto. - If you want to be happy, be [him].
[si felix essay vis, esto] Latin analogue of the famous aphorism of Kozma Prutkov (this name is a literary mask created by A.K. Tolstoy and the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers; this is how they signed their satirical works in the 1850-1860s).
Si gravis, brevis, si longus, levis. - If [the pain] is severe, then it is short-lived; if it is long-lasting, then it is mild.
[si gravis, brevis, si longus, levis] These words of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who was a very sick man and considered pleasure, which he understood as the absence of pain, to be the highest good, are cited and disputed by Cicero (“On the Boundaries of Good and Evil,” II, 29 , 94). Extremely serious illnesses, he says, can also be long-term, and the only way to resist them is courage, which does not allow cowardice. The expression of Epicurus, since it is polysemantic (usually quoted without the word dolor [dolor] - pain), can also be attributed to human speech. It will turn out: “If [the speech] is weighty, then it is short, if it is long (wordy), then it is frivolous.”
Si judicas, cognosce. - If you judge, figure it out (listen)
[si udikas, cognosse] In Seneca’s tragedy “Medea” (II, 194) these are the words of the main character addressed to the king of Corinth Creon, whose daughter Jason, Medea’s husband, for whom she once betrayed her father (helped the Argonauts take away the golden fleece he kept), left her homeland and killed her brother. Creon, knowing how dangerous Medea's anger is, ordered her to immediately leave the city; but, succumbing to her persuasion, he gave her 1 day of respite to say goodbye to the children. This day was enough for Medea to take revenge. She sent clothes soaked in witchcraft as a gift to the royal daughter, and she, having put them on, burned along with her father, who hastened to her aid.
Si sapis, sis apis.-If you are intelligent, be a bee (that is, work)
[si sapis, sis apis]
Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. - If you had remained silent, you would have remained a philosopher.
[si takuisses, philosophus mansisses] Compare: “Keep silent and you will pass for smart.” It is based on a story given by Plutarch (“On the Pious Life,” 532) and Boethius (“Consolation of Philosophy,” II, 7) about a man who was proud of the title of philosopher. Someone exposed him, promising to recognize him as a philosopher if he patiently endured all the insults. After listening to his interlocutor, the proud man mockingly asked: “Now do you believe that I am a philosopher?” - “I would have believed it if you had remained silent.”
Si vales, bene est, ego valeo. (S.V.B.E.E.V.) - If you are healthy, that’s good, and I’m healthy.
[si vales, bene est, ego valeo] Seneca (“Moral Letters to Lucilius”, 15, 1), talking about the ancient custom of beginning a letter with these words that survived until his time (1st century AD), he himself addresses Lucilius this way: “If you are engaged in philosophy, that’s good. Because only in her is health” (translated by S. Osherov).
Si vis amari, ama. - If you want to be loved, love [yourself]
[si vis amari, ama] Quoted from Seneca (Moral Letters to Lucilius, 9, 6) the words of the Greek philosopher Hekaton.
Si vis pacem, para bellum. - If you want peace, prepare for war.
[ey vis patsem, para bellum] The saying gave the name to the parabellum - a German automatic 8-round pistol (it was in service with the German army until 1945). “Whoever wants peace, let him prepare for war” - the words of a Roman military writer of the 4th century. AD Vegetia (“A Brief Instruction in Military Affairs”, 3, Prologue).
Sic itur ad astra. - So they go to the stars.
[sik itur ad astra] These words in Virgil (“Aeneid”, IX, 641) are addressed by the god Apollo to the son of Aeneas Ascanius (Yul), who struck the enemy with an arrow and won the first victory in his life.
Sic transit gloria mundi. - This is how worldly glory passes.
[sic transit gloria mundi] Usually they say this about something lost (beauty, glory, strength, greatness, authority), which has lost its meaning. It is based on the treatise of the German mystic philosopher Thomas a à Kempis (1380-1471) “On the Imitation of Christ” (I, 3, 6): “Oh, how quickly worldly glory passes.” Beginning around 1409, these words are spoken during the ceremony of consecrating a new pope, burning a piece of cloth in front of him as a sign of the fragility and perishability of everything earthly, including the power and glory he receives. Sometimes the saying is quoted with the last word replaced, for example: “Sic transit tempus” (“This is how time passes”).
47 927There are moments in a conversation when ordinary words are no longer enough, or they seem inconspicuous in front of the deep meaning that you want to convey, and then winged sayings come to the rescue - the Latin ones are the most significant in terms of power of thought and brevity.
alive!
A great many words and phrases in different languages of the world are borrowed from Latin. They are so deeply rooted that they are used all the time.
For example, the well-known aqua (water), alibi (proof of innocence), index (index), veto (prohibition), persona non grata (a person who was not wanted to be seen and was not expected), alter ego (my second self), alma mater (mother-nurse), capre diem (seize the moment), as well as the well-known postscript (P.S.), used as a postscript to the main text, and a priori (relying on experience and faith).
Based on the frequency of use of these words, it is too early to say that the Latin language has long died. He will live in Latin sayings, words and aphorisms for a long time.
The most famous sayings
A small list of the most popular works on history known to many fans and philosophical conversations over a cup of tea. Many of them are almost similar in frequency of use:
Dum spiro, spero. - While I breathe I hope. This phrase first appears in Cicero’s Letters and also in Seneca.
De mortus out bene, out nihil. - It’s good about the dead, or nothing. It is believed that Chilo used this phrase as early as the fourth century BC.
Vox populi, vox Dia. - The voice of the people is the voice of God. A phrase heard in Hesiod’s poem, but for some reason it is attributed to the historian William of Malmesbury, which is completely wrong. In the modern world, the movie “V for Vendetta” brought fame to this saying.
Memento mori. - Memento Mori. This expression was once used as a greeting by Trapist monks.
Note bene! - A call to pay attention. Often written in the margins of the texts of great philosophers.
Oh tempora, oh mores! - Oh times, oh morals. from Cicero's Oration against Catiline.
After the fact. - Often used to denote an action after an already accomplished fact.
About this contra. - Pros and cons.
In bono veritas. - The truth is good.
Volens, nolens. - Willy-nilly. Can also be translated as “whether you like it or not”
The truth is in the wine
One of the most famous Latin sayings sounds like “in vino veritas”, in which the truth is veritas, in vino - the wine itself. This is a favorite expression of people who often drink a glass, in such a cunning way they justify their craving for alcohol. The authorship is attributed to the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption of Vesuvius. At the same time, his authentic version sounds somewhat different: “Truth has drowned in wine more than once,” and the subtext is that a drunk person is always more truthful than a sober one. The great thinker was often quoted in his works by the poet Blok (in the poem “Stranger”), the writer Dostoevsky in the novel “Teenager” and some other authors. Some historians claim that the authorship of this Latin proverb belongs to a completely different person, the Greek poet Alcaeus. There is also a similar Russian proverb: “What a sober man has on his mind, a drunk man has on his tongue.”
Quotes from the Bible translated from Latin into Russian
Many phraseological units used today are drawn from the greatest book of the world and are grains of great wisdom that pass from century to century.
He who does not work does not eat (from 2nd Paul). Russian analogue: he who does not work does not eat. The meaning and sound are almost identical.
Let this cup pass from me. - This is taken from the Gospel of Matthew. And from the same source - The student is not higher than his teacher.
Remember that you are dust. - Taken from the book of Genesis, this phrase reminds everyone who is proud of their greatness that all people are made from the same “dough.”
The abyss calls the abyss (Psalter.) The phrase in Russian has an analogue: trouble does not come alone.
Do what you plan (Gospel of John). - These are the words spoken by Jesus to Judas before his betrayal.
Phrases for every day
Latin sayings with transcription in Russian (for easier reading and memorization) can be used in ordinary conversation, decorating your speech with wise aphorisms, giving it special poignancy and uniqueness. Many of them are also familiar to most:
Diez diem dotset. - Every previous day teaches a new one. Authorship is attributed to someone who lived in the first century BC.
Ecce homo! - Behold the Man! The expression is taken from the Gospel of John, the words of Pontius Pilate about Jesus Christ.
Elephantem ex muca fascis. - You make an elephant out of a molehill.
Errare humanum est. - To err is human (these are also the words of Cicero)..
Essay kvam videri. - Be, not seem to be.
Ex animo. - From the bottom of my heart, from the soul.
Exitus of the act of trial. - The result justifies the means (action, act, deed).
Look for who benefits
Quid bono and quid prodest. - The words of the Roman consul, who was often quoted by Cicero, who in turn is universally quoted by detectives in modern films: “Who benefits, or look for who benefits.”
Researchers of ancient treatises on history believe that these words belong to the lawyer Cassian Ravilla, who in the first century of our century investigated a crime and addressed the judges with these words.
Words of Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero is a great and political figure who played a leading role in exposing the Catiline conspiracy. He was executed, but many of the thinker’s sayings continue to live among us for a long time, like Latin sayings, and few people know that he was the author.
For example, the well-known ones:
Ab igne ignam. - From the fire, fire (Russian: from the fire to the fire).
A true friend is found in a wrong deed (in a treatise on friendship)
To live is to think (Vivere eats Kogitare).
Either let him drink or leave (out bibat, out abeat) - a phrase often used at Roman feasts. In the modern world it has an analogue: they don’t go to someone else’s barracks with their own regulations.
Habit is second nature (treatise “On the Highest Good”). This statement was also picked up by the poet Pushkin:
The habit has been given to us from above...
The letter does not blush (epistula non erubescit). From a letter from Cicero to a Roman historian, in which he expressed his satisfaction that he could express much more on paper than in words.
Everyone makes mistakes, but only a fool persists. Taken from the work "Philippics"
About love
This subsection contains Latin sayings (with translation) about the highest feeling - love. Having reflected on their deep meaning, one can trace the thread that connects all times: Trahit sua quemque voluptas.
Love cannot be cured with herbs. Ovid's words, later paraphrased by Alexander Pushkin:
The disease of love is incurable.
Femina nihil pestilentius. - There is nothing more destructive than a woman. Words belonging to the great Homer.
Amor omnibus let's go. - Part of Virgil's saying, “love is the same for all.” There is another variation: all ages are submissive to love.
Old love must be knocked out with love, like a stake. Words of Cicero.
Analogues of Latin and Russian expressions
A lot of Latin sayings have identical meanings to proverbs in our culture.
The eagle doesn't catch flies. - Each bird has its own nest. It hints that you need to adhere to your moral principles and rules of life, without falling below your level.
Excess food interferes with mental acuity. - Words that have a related proverb among Russians: a full belly is deaf to science. This is probably why many great thinkers lived in poverty and hunger.
Every cloud has a silver lining. There is an absolutely identical saying in our country. Or maybe some Russian fellow borrowed it from the Latins, and from then on it was the same?
Like the king, so is the crowd. Analogue - such is the pop, such is the arrival. And more about the same thing:
What is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull. About the same thing: to Caesar is what is Caesar's.
Whoever has done half the work has already begun (attributed to Horace: “Dimidium facti, qui tsopit, khabet”). Plato has the same meaning: “The beginning is half the battle,” as well as the old Russian proverb: “A good beginning covers half the battle.”
Patrie fumus igne alieno luculentzior. - The smoke of the fatherland is brighter than the fire of a foreign land (Russian - The smoke of the fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us).
Mottos of great people
Latin sayings have also been used as mottos of famous individuals, communities and fraternities. For example, “to the eternal glory of God” is the motto of the Jesuits. The motto of the Templars is “non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam,” which translates: “Not to us, Lord, but to your name, give glory.” And also the famous “Capre diem” (seize the moment) - this is the motto of the Epicureans, taken from Horace’s opus.
“Either Caesar or nothing,” is the motto of Cardinal Borgia, who took the words of Caligula, the Roman emperor famous for his exorbitant appetites and desires.
"Faster, higher, stronger!" - Since 1913 it has been a symbol of the Olympic Games.
“De omnibus dubito” (I doubt everything) is the motto of Rene Descartes, a scientist-philosopher.
Fluctuat nec mergitur (floats, but does not sink) - on the coat of arms of Paris there is this inscription under the boat.
Vita sine libertate, nihil (life without freedom is nothing) - Romain Roland, a famous French writer, walked through life with these words.
Vivere eat militare (to live means to fight) - the motto of the great Lucius Seneca the Younger, and philosopher.
About how useful it is to be a polyglot
There is a story circulating on the Internet about a resourceful medical student who witnessed how a gypsy woman became attached to an unfamiliar girl with calls to “gild her pen and tell fortunes.” The girl was quiet and shy and could not properly refuse a beggar. The guy, sympathizing with the girl, came up and began shouting out the names of diseases in Latin, waving his arms widely around the gypsy. The latter hastily retreated. After some time, the guy and girl happily got married, recalling the comical moment of their acquaintance.
Origins of language
The Latin language gets its name from the Lanites, who lived in Latium, a small region in the center of Italy. The center of Latium was Rome, which grew from a city to the capital of the Great Empire, and Latin was recognized as the official language over a vast territory from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in parts of Asia, North Africa and the Euphrates River valley.
In the second century BC, Rome conquered Greece, the ancient Greek and Latin languages mixed, giving rise to many Romance languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, among which Sardinian is considered the closest in sound to Latin).
In the modern world, medicine is unthinkable without Latin, because almost all diagnoses and medications are spoken in this language, and the philosophical works of ancient thinkers in Latin are still an example of the epistolary genre and cultural heritage of the highest quality.
Below are 170 Latin catchphrases and proverbs with transliteration (transcription) and accents.
Sign ў denotes a non-syllable sound [y].
Sign g x denotes a fricative sound [γ] , which corresponds to G in the Belarusian language, as well as the corresponding sound in Russian words God, yeah and so on.
- A mari usque ad mare.
[A mari uskve ad mare].
From sea to sea.
Motto on the coat of arms of Canada. - Ab ovo usque ad mala.
[Ab ovo uskve ad malya].
From eggs to apples, that is, from beginning to end.
The Romans' lunch began with eggs and ended with apples. - Abiens abi!
[Abiens abi!]
Leaving go! - Acta est fabŭla.
[Acta est fabula].
The show is over.
Suetonius, in The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, writes that Emperor Augustus, on his last day, asked his friends as they entered whether they thought he had “played the comedy of life well.” - Alea jacta est.
[Alea yakta est].
Die is cast.
Used in cases where they talk about an irrevocably made decision. The words spoken by Julius Caesar as his troops crossed the Rubicon River, which separated Umbria from the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul, i.e. Northern Italy, in 49 BC. e. Julius Caesar, breaking the law according to which he, as a proconsul, could command an army only outside of Italy, led it, finding himself on Italian territory, and thereby started a civil war. - Amīcus est anĭmus unus in duōbus corporĭbus.
[Amicus est animus unus in duobus corporibus].
A friend is one soul in two bodies. - Amīcus Plato, sed magis amīca verĭtas.
[Amicus Plato, sed magis amika veritas].
Plato is my friend, but truth is dearer (Aristotle).
Used when they want to emphasize that truth is above all. - Amor tussisque non celantur.
[Amor tussiskve non tselyantur].
You can't hide love and a cough. - Aquila non captat muscas.
[Aquila non captat muscas].
The eagle doesn't catch flies. - Audacia pro muro habētur.
[Aўdatsia about muro g x abetur].
Courage replaces walls (literally: there is courage instead of walls). - Audiātur et altĕra pars!
[Audiatur et altera pars!]
Let the other side be heard too!
On impartial consideration of disputes. - Aurea mediocritas.
[Aўrea mediocritas].
The Golden Mean (Horace).
About people who avoid extremes in their judgments and actions. - Aut vincere, aut mori.
[Aut vintsere, aut mori].
Either win or die. - Ave, Caesar, moritūri te salūtant!
[Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant!]
Hello, Caesar, those going to death salute you!
Greeting of the Roman gladiators, - Bibāmus!
[Beebamus!]
<Давайте>Let's have a drink! - Caesărem decet stantem mori.
[Tesarem detset stantem mori].
It is fitting for Caesar to die standing. - Canis vivus melior est leōne mortuo.
[Canis vivus melior est leone mortuo].
A living dog is better than a dead lion.
Wed. from Russian proverb “Better a bird in the hand than a pie in the sky.” - Carum est, quod rarum est.
[Karum est, kvod rarum est].
What is valuable is what is rare. - Causa causārum.
[Caўza kaўzarum].
Cause of causes (main reason). - Cave canem!
[Kawe kanem!]
Be afraid of the dog!
Inscription on the entrance of a Roman house; used as a general warning: be careful, attentive. - Cedant arma togae!
[Tsedant arma toge!]
Let the weapon give way to the toga! (Let peace replace war.) - Clavus clavo pellĭtur.
[Klyavus klyavo pallitur].
The wedge is knocked out by the wedge. - Cognosce te ipsum.
[Kognosce te ipsum].
Know yourself.
Latin translation of a Greek saying inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. - Cras melius fore.
[Kras melius forê].
<Известно,>that tomorrow will be better. - Cujus regio, ejus lingua.
[Kuyus regio, eius lingua].
Whose country is, whose language is. - Curriculum vitae.
[Curriculum vitae].
Description of life, autobiography. - Damnant, quod non intellĕgunt.
[Damnant, quod non intellegunt].
They judge because they don't understand. - De gustĭbus non est disputandum.
[De gustibus non est disputandum].
There should be no arguing about tastes. - Destruam et aedificābo.
[Destruam et edifikabo].
I will destroy and build. - Deus ex machina.
[Deus ex makhina].
God from the machine, i.e. an unexpected ending.
In ancient drama, the denouement was the appearance of God in front of the audience from a special machine, who helped resolve a difficult situation. - Dictum est factum.
[Diktum est factum].
No sooner said than done. - Dies diem docet.
[Dies diem dotset].
One day teaches another.
Wed. from Russian proverb “The morning is wiser than the evening.” - Divĭde et impĕra!
[Divide et impera!]
Divide and rule!
The principle of Roman aggressive policy, adopted by subsequent conquerors. - Dixi et anĭmam levāvi.
[Dixie et animam levavi].
He said it and relieved his soul.
Biblical expression. - Do, ut des; facio, ut facias.
[Do, ut des; facio, ut facias].
I give that you give; I want you to do it.
A Roman law formula establishing the legal relationship between two persons. Wed. from Russian with the expression “You give me - I give you.” - Docendo discĭmus.
[Dotsendo discimus].
By teaching, we learn ourselves.
The expression comes from a statement by the Roman philosopher and writer Seneca. - Domus propria - domus optima.
[Domus propria - domus optima].
Your own home is the best. - Dónec erís felíx, multós numerábis amícos.
[Donek eris felix, multos numerabis amikos].
As long as you are happy, you will have many friends (Ovid). - Dum spiro, spero.
[Dum spiro, spero].
While I breathe I hope. - Duōbus litigantĭbus, tertius gaudet.
[Duobus litigantibus, tertius gaўdet].
When two people quarrel, the third one rejoices.
Hence another expression - tertius gaudens ‘third rejoicing’, i.e. a person who benefits from the strife of the two sides. - Edĭmus, ut vivāmus, non vivĭmus, ut edāmus.
[Edimus, ut vivamus, non vivimus, ut edamus].
We eat to live, not live to eat (Socrates). - Elephanti corio circumtentus est.
[Elephanti corio circumtentus est].
Endowed with elephant skin.
The expression is used when talking about an insensitive person. - Errāre humānum est.
[Errare g x umanum est].
To err is human (Seneca). - Est deus in nobis.
[Est de "us in no" bis].
There is God in us (Ovid). - Est modus in rebus.
[Est modus in rebus].
There is a measure in things, that is, there is a measure for everything. - Etiám sanáto vúlnĕre, cícatríx manét.
[Etiam sanato vulnere, cikatrix manet].
And even when the wound has healed, the scar remains (Publius Syrus). - Ex libris.
[Ex libris].
“From Books”, bookplate, sign of the owner of the book. - Éxēgí monument(um)…
[Exegi monument (mind)…]
I erected a monument (Horace).
The beginning of Horace's famous ode on the theme of the immortality of the poet's works. The ode caused a large number of imitations and translations in Russian poetry. - Facile dictu, difficile factu.
[Facile diktu, difficile factu].
Easy to say, hard to do. - Fames artium magister.
[Fames artium master]
Hunger is a teacher of the arts.
Wed. from Russian proverb “The need for invention is cunning.” - Felicĭtas humāna nunquam in eōdem statu permănet.
[Felitsitas g x umana nunkvam in eodem statu permanet].
Human happiness is never permanent. - Felicĭtas multos habet amīcos.
[Felicitas multos g x abet amikos].
Happiness has many friends. - Felicitātem ingentem anĭmus ingens decet.
[Felicitatem ingentem animus ingens detset].
A great spirit deserves great happiness. - Felix criminĭbus nullus erit diu.
[Felix crimibus nullus erith diu].
No one will be happy with crime for long. - Felix, qui nihil debet.
[Felix, qui nig x il debet].
Happy is the one who owes nothing. - Festina lente!
[Festina tape!]
Hurry slowly (do everything slowly).
One of the common sayings of Emperor Augustus (63 BC - 14 AD). - Fiat lux!
[Fiat luxury!]
Let there be light! (Biblical expression).
In a broader sense, it is used when talking about grandiose achievements. The inventor of printing, Guttenberg, was depicted holding an unfolded sheet of paper with the inscription “Fiat lux!” - Finis corōnat opus.
[Finis coronat opus].
End crowns the work.
Wed. from Russian proverb “The end is the crown of the matter.” - Gaúdia príncipiúm nostrí sunt saépe dolóris.
[Gaўdia principium nostri sunt sepe doleris].
Joys are often the beginning of our sorrows (Ovid). - Habent sua fata libelli.
[G x abent sua fata libelli].
Books have their own destiny. - Hic mortui vivunt, hic muti loquuntur.
[G x ik mortui vivunt, g x ik muti lekvuntur].
Here the dead are alive, here the dumb speak.
The inscription above the entrance to the library. - Hodie mihi, cras tibi.
[G x odie mig x i, kras tibi].
Today for me, tomorrow for you. - Homo doctus in se semper divitias habet.
[G x omo doctus in se semper divitsias g x abet].
A learned man always has wealth within himself. - Homo homini lupus est.
[G x omo g x omini lupus est].
Man is a wolf to man (Plautus). - Homo propōnit, sed Deus dispōnit.
[G h omo proponit, sed Deus disponit].
Man proposes, but God disposes. - Homo quisque fortūnae faber.
[G x omo quiskve fortune faber].
Every person is the creator of his own destiny. - Homo sum: humāni nihil a me aliēnum (esse) puto.
[G x omo sum: g x umani nig x il a me alienum (esse) puto].
I am a man: nothing human, as I think, is alien to me. - Honōres mutant mores.
[G x onores mutant mores].
Honors change morals (Plutarch). - Hostis humāni genĕris.
[G x ostis g x umani generis].
The enemy of the human race. - Id agas, ut sis felix, non ut videāris.
[Id agas, ut sis felix, non ut videaris].
Act in such a way as to be happy, and not to appear (Seneca).
From "Letters to Lucilius". - In aquā scribĕre.
[In aqua skribere].
Writing on water (Catullus). - In hoc signo vinces.
[In g x ok signo vinces].
Under this banner you will win.
The motto of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, placed on his banner (IV century). Currently used as a trademark. - In optĭmā formā.
[In optimal form].
In top shape. - In tempŏre opportūno.
[In tempore opportuno].
At a convenient time. - In vino veritas.
[In wine veritas].
The truth is in the wine.
Corresponds to the expression “What is on the sober mind is on the tongue of the drunk.” - Invēnit et perfēcit.
[Invenit et perfecit].
Invented and improved.
Motto of the French Academy of Sciences. - Ipse dixit.
[Ipse dixit].
He said it himself.
An expression characterizing the position of thoughtless admiration for someone's authority. Cicero, in his essay “On the Nature of the Gods,” quoting this saying from the students of the philosopher Pythagoras, says that he does not approve of the manners of the Pythagoreans: instead of proving their opinion, they referred to their teacher with words ipse dixit. - Ipso facto.
[Ipso facto].
By the very fact. - Is fecit, cui prodest.
[Is fecit, kui prodest].
It was done by someone who benefits (Lucius Cassius).
Cassius, the ideal of a fair and intelligent judge in the eyes of the Roman people (hence Yes another expression judex Cassiānus ‘fair judge’), in criminal trials always raised the question: “Who benefits? Who benefits from this? The nature of people is such that no one wants to become a villain without calculation and benefit for themselves. - Latrante uno, latrat statim et alter canis.
[Latrante uno, latrat statim et alter canis].
When one barks, the other dog immediately barks. - Legem brevem esse oportet.
[Legham bravem essay opportet].
The law should be brief. - Littĕra scripta manet.
[Littera scripta manet].
The written letter remains.
Wed. from Russian proverb “What is written with a pen cannot be cut out with an axe.” - Melior est certa pax, quam sperāta victoria.
[Melior est certa pax, kvam sperata victoria].
Better is certain peace than hope of victory (Titus Livius). - Memento mori!
[Memento mori!]
Memento Mori.
The greeting that was exchanged at a meeting by the monks of the Trappist order, founded in 1664. It is used both as a reminder of the inevitability of death, the transience of life, and in a figurative sense - of a threatening danger or of something sorrowful or sad. - Mens sana in corpŏre sano.
[Mens sana in korpore sano].
A healthy mind in a healthy body (Juvenal).
Usually this saying expresses the idea of harmonious human development. - Mutāto nomĭne, de te fabŭla narrātur.
[Mutato nomine, de te fabula narrative].
The tale is told about you, only the name (Horace) is changed. - Nec sibi, nec altĕri.
[Nek sibi, nek alteri].
Neither yourself nor anyone else. - Nec sibi, nec altĕri.
[Nek sibi, nek alteri].
Neither yourself nor anyone else. - Nigrius pice.
[Nigrius pice].
Blacker than tar. - Nil adsuetudĭne majus.
[Nil adsvetudine maius].
There is nothing stronger than habit.
From a cigarette brand. - Noli me tanĕre!
[Noli me tangere!]
Dont touch me!
Expression from the Gospel. - Nomen est omen.
[Nomen est omen].
“A name is a sign, a name foreshadows something,” that is, a name speaks about its bearer, characterizes him. - Nomĭna sunt odiōsa.
[Nomina sunt odioza].
Names are hateful, that is, naming names is undesirable. - Non progrĕdi est regrĕdi.
[Non progradi est regradi].
Not going forward means going backwards. - Non sum, qualis eram.
[Non sum, kvalis eram].
I am not the same as I was before (Horace). - Nota bene! (NB)
[Nota bene!]
Pay attention (lit.: notice well).
A mark used to draw attention to important information. - Nulla dies sine lineā.
[Nulla diez sine linea].
Not a day without a touch; not a day without a line.
Pliny the Elder reports that the famous ancient Greek painter Apelles (IV century BC) “had the habit, no matter how busy he was, not to miss a single day without practicing his art, drawing at least one line; this gave rise to the saying.” - Nullum est jam dictum, quod non sit dictum prius.
[Nullum est yam diktum, quod non sit diktum prius].
They don’t say anything anymore that hasn’t been said before. - Nullum pericŭlum sine pericŭlo vincĭtur.
[Nullum periculum sine perikulyo vincitur].
No danger can be overcome without risk. - O tempŏra, o mores!
[O tempora, oh mores!]
Oh times, oh morals! (Cicero) - Omnes homĭnes aequāles sunt.
[Omnes g x omines equales sunt].
All people are the same. - Omnia mea mecum porto.
[Omnia mea mekum porto].
I carry everything I have with me (Biant).
The phrase belongs to one of the “seven wise men” Biant. When his hometown of Priene was taken by the enemy and the residents tried to take more of their things with them in flight, someone advised him to do the same. “That’s what I do, because I carry everything that’s mine with me,” he answered, meaning that only spiritual wealth can be considered an inalienable property. - Otium post negotium.
[Ocium post negocium].
Rest after work.
Wed: If you’ve done the job, go for a walk with confidence. - Pacta sunt servanda.
[Pakta sunt sirvanda].
Contracts must be respected. - Panem et circenses!
[Panaem et circenses!]
Meal'n'Real!
An exclamation that expressed the basic demands of the Roman crowd in the era of the Empire. The Roman plebs put up with the loss of political rights, being satisfied with the free distribution of bread, cash distributions and the organization of free circus shows. - Par pari refertur.
[Par pari refertur].
Equal is given to equal. - Paupĕri bis dat, qui cito dat.
[Paўperi bis dat, kwi tsito dat].
The poor are doubly benefited by those who give quickly (Publius Sirus). - Pax huic domui.
[Pax g x uik domui].
Peace to this house (Gospel of Luke).
Greeting formula. - Pecunia est ancilla, si scis uti, si nescis, domĭna.
[Pekunia est ancilla, si scis uti, si nescis, domina].
Money, if you know how to use it, is a servant; if you don’t know how to use it, then it is a mistress. - Per aspĕra ad astra.
[Per asper ad astra].
Through thorns to the stars, that is, through difficulties to success. - Pinxit.
[Pinksit].
Wrote.
The artist's autograph on the painting. - Poētae nascuntur, oratōres fiunt.
[Poete naskuntur, oratores fiunt].
People are born poets, they become speakers. - Potius mori, quam foedāri.
[Potius mori, kvam fedari].
It's better to die than to be disgraced.
The expression is attributed to Cardinal James of Portugal. - Prima lex historiae, ne quid falsi dicat.
[Prima lex g x history, ne quid falsi dikat].
The first principle of history is to prevent lies. - Primus inter pares.
[Primus inter pares].
First among equals.
A formula characterizing the position of the monarch in the state. - Principium - dimidium totus.
[Principium - dimidium totius].
The beginning is half of everything (anything). - Probātum est.
[Probatum est].
Approved; accepted. - Promitto me laboratūrum esse non sordĭdi lucri causā.
[Promitto me laboraturum esse non sordidi lukri ka "ўza].
I promise that I will not work for the sake of despicable gain.
From the oath taken when receiving a doctorate in Poland. - Putantur homĭnes plus in aliēno negotio vidēre, quam in suo.
[Putantur g x omines plus in alieno negocio videre, kvam in suo].
It is believed that people see more in someone else’s business than in their own, that is, they always know better from the outside. - Qui tacet, consentīre vidētur.
[Kwi tatset, konsentire videtur].
It seems that the one who is silent agrees.
Wed. from Russian proverb “Silence is a sign of consent.” - Quia nomĭnor leo.
[Quia nominor leo].
For I am called a lion.
Words from the fable of the Roman fabulist Phaedrus (end of the 1st century BC - first half of the 1st century AD). After the hunt, the lion and the donkey shared the spoils. The lion took one share for himself as the king of beasts, the second as a participant in the hunt, and the third, he explained, “because I am a lion.” - Quod erat demonstrandum (q. e. d.).
[Kvod erat demonstrandum]
Q.E.D.
The traditional formula that completes the proof. - Quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi.
[Kvod litset Yovi, non litset bovi].
What is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull.
According to ancient myth, Jupiter in the form of a bull kidnapped the daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor Europa. - Quod tibi fiĕri non vis, altĕri non fecĕris.
[Kvod tibi fieri non vis, alteri non fetseris].
Don't do to others what you don't want to do to yourself.
The expression is found in the Old and New Testaments. - Quos Juppĭter perdĕre vult, dementat.
[Kvos Yuppiter perdere vult, dementat].
Whomever Jupiter wants to destroy, he deprives of reason.
The expression goes back to a fragment of the tragedy of an unknown Greek author: “When a deity prepares misfortune for a person, he first of all takes away his mind with which he reasons.” The above briefer formulation of this thought was apparently first given in the edition of Euripides, published in 1694 in Cambridge by the English philologist W. Barnes. - Quot capĭta, tot sensūs.
[Kvot kapita, tot sensus].
So many people, so many opinions. - Rarior corvo albo est.
[Rarior corvo albo est].
More rare than the white crow. - Repetitio est mater studiōrum.
[Repetizio est mater studiorum].
Repetition is the mother of learning. - Requiescat in pace! (R.I.P.).
[Requieskat in patse!]
May he rest in peace!
Latin gravestone inscription. - Sapienti sat.
[Sapienti sat].
Enough for those who understand. - Scientia est potentia.
[Sciencia est potentia].
Knowledge is power.
An aphorism based on a statement by Francis Bacon (1561–1626) - an English philosopher, the founder of English materialism. - Scio me nihil scire.
[Scio me nig h il scire].
I know that I know nothing (Socrates). - Sero venientĭbus ossa.
[Sero venientibus ossa].
Those who come late (are left) with bones. - Si duo faciunt idem, non est idem.
[Si duo faciunt idem, non est idem].
If two people do the same thing, it is not the same thing (Terence). - Si gravis brevis, si longus levis.
[Si gravis brevis, si lengus lewis].
If the pain is excruciating, it is not long-lasting; if it is long-lasting, it is not painful.
Citing this position of Epicurus, Cicero in his treatise “On the Supreme Good and the Supreme Evil” proves its inconsistency. - Si tacuisses, philosŏphus mansisses.
[Si takuisses, philosophus mansisses].
If you had remained silent, you would have remained a philosopher.
Boethius (c. 480–524) in his book “On the Consolation of Philosophy” tells how someone who boasted of the title of philosopher listened for a long time in silence to the abuse of a man who exposed him as a deceiver, and finally asked with mockery: “Now you understand that I am really a philosopher ?”, to which he received the answer: “Intellexissem, si tacuisses” 'I would have understood this if you had remained silent.' - Si tu esses Helĕna, ego vellem esse Paris.
[Si tu esse G x elena, ego vellem esse Paris].
If you were Helen, I would like to be Paris.
From a medieval love poem. - Si vis amāri, ama!
[Si vis amari, ama!]
If you want to be loved, love! - Sí vivís Romaé, Romā́no vivito more.
[Si vivis Rome, Romano vivito more].
If you live in Rome, live according to Roman customs.
New Latin poetic saying. Wed. from Russian proverb “Don’t meddle in someone else’s monastery with your own rules.” - Sic transit gloria mundi.
[Sic transit glöria mundi].
This is how worldly glory passes.
These words are addressed to the future pope during the installation ceremony, burning a piece of cloth in front of him as a sign of the illusory nature of earthly power. - Silent legs inter arma.
[Silent leges inter arma].
Laws are silent among weapons (Livy). - Similis simili gaudet.
[Similis simili gaudet].
The like rejoices in the like.
Corresponds to Russian. proverb “A fisherman sees a fisherman from afar.” - Sol omnĭbus lucet.
[Salt omnibus lucet].
The sun is shining for everyone. - Sua cuīque patria jucundissĭma est.
[Sua kuikve patria yukundissima est].
Everyone has their own best homeland. - Sub rosā.
[Sub rose].
“Under the rose,” that is, in secret, secretly.
For the ancient Romans, the rose was an emblem of mystery. If a rose was hung from the ceiling above the dining table, then everything that was said and done “under the rose” was not to be disclosed. - Terra incognita.
[Terra incognita].
Unknown land (in a figurative sense - an unfamiliar area, something incomprehensible).
On ancient geographical maps, these words denoted unexplored territories. - Tertia vigilia.
[Terzia vigilia].
"Third Watch"
Night time, i.e. the period from sunset to sunrise, was divided among the ancient Romans into four parts, the so-called vigilia, equal to the duration of the changing of guards in military service. The third vigil is the period from midnight to the beginning of dawn. - Tertium non datur.
[Tertium non datur].
There is no third.
One of the provisions of formal logic. - Theātrum mundi.
[Theatrum mundi].
World stage. - Timeó Danaós et dona feréntes.
[Timeo Danaos et dona faires].
I am afraid of the Danaans, even those who bring gifts.
Words of the priest Laocoon, referring to a huge wooden horse, built by the Greeks (Danaans) supposedly as a gift to Minerva. - Totus mundus agit histriōnem.
[Totus mundus agit g x istrionem].
The whole world is playing a play (the whole world is actors).
Inscription on Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. - Tres faciunt collegium.
[Tres faciunt collegium].
Three make up the council.
One of the provisions of Roman law. - Una hirundo non facit ver.
[Una g x irundo non facit ver].
One swallow does not make spring.
Used in the sense of ‘one should not judge too hastily, based on one action’. - Unā voce.
[Una votse].
Unanimously. - Urbi et orbi.
[Urbi et orbi].
“To the city and the world,” that is, to Rome and the whole world, for general information.
The ceremony for electing a new pope required that one of the cardinals clothe the chosen one with the robe, uttering the following phrase: “I invest you with Roman papal dignity, so that you may stand before the city and the world.” Currently, the Pope begins his annual address to the believers with this phrase. - Usus est optĭmus magister.
[Uzus est optimus magister].
Experience is the best teacher. - Ut amēris, amabĭlis esto.
[Ut ameris, amabilis esto].
To be loved, be worthy of love (Ovid).
From the poem “The Art of Love.” - Ut salūtas, ita salutabĕris.
[Ut salutas, ita salutaberis].
As you greet, so you will be greeted. - Ut vivas, igĭtur vigĭla.
[Ut vivas, igitur vigilya].
To live, be on your guard (Horace). - Vade mecum (Vademecum).
[Vade mekum (Vademekum)].
Come with me.
This was the name of a pocket reference book, index, guide. The first to give this name to his work of this nature was the New Latin poet Lotikh in 1627. - Vae soli!
[Ve so"li!]
Woe to the lonely! (Bible). - Vēni. Vidi. Vici.
[Venya. See. Vitsi].
Came. Saw. Victorious (Caesar).
According to Plutarch, with this phrase Julius Caesar reported in a letter to his friend Amyntius about the victory over the Pontic king Pharnaces in August 47 BC. e. Suetonius reports that this phrase was inscribed on a tablet carried before Caesar during the Pontic triumph. - Verba movent, exempla trahunt.
[Verba movent, sample trag x unt].
The words excite, the examples captivate. - Verba volant, scripta manent.
[Verba volant, scripta manent].
Words fly away, but what is written remains. - Verĭtas tempŏris filia est.
[Veritas temporis filia est].
Truth is the daughter of time. - Vim vi repellĕre licet.
[Vim vi rapellere litset].
Violence can be repelled by force.
One of the provisions of Roman civil law. - Vita brevis est, ars longa.
[Vita brevis est, ars lenga].
Life is short, art is eternal (Hippocrates). - Vivat Academy! Vivant professōres!
[Vivat Akademiya! Vivant professores!]
Long live the university, long live the professors!
A line from the student anthem "Gaudeāmus". - Vivĕre est cogitāre.
[Vivere est cogitare].
Living means thinking.
The words of Cicero, which Voltaire took as a motto. - Vivĕre est militāre.
[Vivere est militar].
To live is to fight (Seneca). - Víx(i) et quém dedĕrát cursúm fortúna perégi.
[Vix(i) et kvem dederat kursum fortuna peregi].
I have lived my life and walked the path assigned to me by fate (Virgil).
The dying words of Dido, who committed suicide after Aeneas abandoned her and sailed from Carthage. - Volens nolens.
[Volens nolens].
Willy-nilly; whether you want it or not.
Latin catchphrases taken from the textbook.
Latin is a language in which you can talk about anything, and always sound especially smart and sublime. If you've ever studied it, it probably wasn't the brightest or most fun time in your life, but it was useful anyway.
But if you haven’t had the chance to study such a subject, then catch the 25 most famous Latin sayings. Remember at least a few of them, and then, having successfully inserted one or two phrases into a conversation, you will be known as a very intelligent and well-read person. And don’t forget to close your eyes languidly when quoting great philosophers.
25. "Ex nihilo nihil fit."
Nothing comes from nothing.
24. “Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.”
The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived.
Photo: pixabay
23. "Memento mori".
Remember that you are mortal.
Photo: pixabay
22. “Etiam si omnes, ego non.”
Even if that’s all, then I’m not.
Photo: shutterstock
21. “Audiatur et altera pars.”
Let the other side be heard too.
Photo: B Rosen / flickr
20. “Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.”
If you were silent, you would remain a philosopher.
Photo: Maik Meid/wikimedia commons
19. "Invictus maneo".
I remain undefeated.
Photo: naveenmendi / wikimedia commons
18. “Fortes fortuna adiuvat.”
Fate helps the brave.
Photo: pixabay
17. “Dolor hic tibi proderit olim.”
Bear with it and be strong, this pain will benefit you someday.
Photo: Steven Depolo / flickr
16. "Cogito Ergo Sum".
I think, therefore I exist.
Photo: pixabay
15. “Oderint dum metuant.”
Let them hate, as long as they are afraid.
Photo: K-Screen shots / flickr
14. “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
Who will guard the watchmen themselves?
Photo: John Kees/flickr
13. “Sic transit gloria.”
This is how worldly glory passes.
Photo: pixabay
12. "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
Never tickle a sleeping dragon.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
11. "Utinam barbari spacium proprium tuum invadant."
Let the barbarians invade your personal space.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
10. “In vino veritas.”
The truth is in the wine.
Photo: Quinn Dombrowski / flickr
9. “Si vis pacem, para bellum.”
If you want peace, prepare for war.
Photo: Σταύρος / flickr
8. "Pacta sunt servanda."
Treaties must be respected.
Photo: pixabay
7. “Non ducor, duco.”
I am not a follower, I lead.
Photo: nist6dh/flickr
6. “Quando omni flunkus moritati.”
If everyone has fallen, pretend to be dead too.
Photo: Pete Markham / flickr
5. “Quid quid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.”
He who speaks Latin sees the highest peaks.
Photo: Tfioreze / wikimedia commons
4. "Dum Spiro, Spero."
While I breathe I hope.
Photo: pixabay
3. “Tua mater latior quam Rubicon est.”
Your mother is wider than the Rubicon (Italian river).
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
2. “Carpe diem.”
Seize the moment.
Photo: pixabay
1. “Aut viam inveniam, aut faciam.”
Either I will find the road, or I will make it myself.
Photo: www.publicdomainpictures.net
