Thursday, July 05, 2007

Latin Proverbs 114

I hope these notes will help you tackle this group of proverbs in Latin Via Proverbs. This group is the last group of second conjugation verbs and third declension nouns!

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. You can find more help at the LatinViaProverbs.com wiki website.

Group 114

1473. I wait for no one. (This is an inscription on a sundial: I (i.e. Time) wait for no one.)

1474. I'm holding the wolf by the ears. (Compare the English saying, "to take the bull by the horns." You can find this discussed by Varro.)

1475. You are warning someone who is already mindful. (You can find this in Erasmus's Adagia, 1.2.12.)

1476. You're mixing fire and water. (You can find this in Erasmus's Praise of Folly.)

1477. You're filling up the jar of the daughters of Danaus. (In other words: you are wasting your time. The daughters of Danaus were condemned in the afterlife to fill a jug of water that had holes in it.)

1478. You're teaching old men before you even have a beard. (You can find this saying in Erasmus's Adagia, 3.3.10.)

1479. A wise man lacks a country. (You can find this saying mentioned in Cicero.)

1480. A wise man has forethought. (You can find this in a fragment of Cicero's Hortensius, with something similar in the De Republica: sapientis est prospicere.)

1481. To obey God is freedom. (You can find this saying in Seneca.)

1482. It is hard to please everybody. () Durum est omnibus placere.

1483. It is hard to shear the lion. (You can also find this expressed as a prohibition: ne velis tondere leonem.) Durum tondere leonem.


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