Thursday, April 26, 2007

Latin Via Proverbs 71

I hope these notes will help you tackle this group of proverbs in Latin Via Proverbs. This group of proverb features forms of aliquis, quilibet, etc.

Please note: to read the proverbs in Latin, you need to acquire a copy of the book from lulu.com! What I am providing here in the blog are notes to help people who are making their way through the book either in a Latin class or on their own.

Group 71

943. There's always something new out of Africa. (See Pliny who cites this as a Greek saying: vulgare Graeciae dictum semper aliquid novi Africam adferre, "the popular Greek saying that Africa always offers something new/strange." You can also find the saying in Erasmus's Adagia, 3.7.10.)

944. Is there anything beyond death? (You can find this saying in Seneca's Agamemnon.)

945. The shades of the dead are something. (You can find this saying in Propertius.)

946. There is no bad without some good. (You can find this saying in Pliny's Natural History.)

947. From good sometimes comes bad. (You can also find this saying in the form ex bono aliquando sequitur malum, "sometimes bad follows after good.")

948. Sometime is better than never. (You can also find this saying in the form Praestat aliquando quam nunquam.)

949. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. (The Latin does not say "disease" exactly, just malum, "the bad thing.")

950. Sometimes silence stands in for eloquence. (Compare this similar notion: Silentium sermonis magister est, "Silence is the teacher of speech.")

951. When it's calm, everyone is a helmsman. (The Latin word gubernator, a borrowing from Greek, is the word for the man who steers the ship, and it gives us the word "governor" in English. You can find this saying in Seneca.)

952. Anyone is king in his own home. (Compare the variant form: Omnis est rex in domo sua, "each man is king in his own home.")


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