Latin Via Proverbs 118

I hope these notes will help you tackle this group of proverbs in Latin Via Proverbs. This group includes first and second conjugation verbs.

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 118

1532. To hurry does harm. (Much better instead to follow the advice of this saying: festina lente, "make haste slowly.")

1533. It is for fish to swim. (You can find this saying in Erasmus's Adagia, 3.6.19.)

1534. You should help your friends. (Compare this similar saying: amicus amicum adiuvat, "one friend helps another.")

1535. It is pleasing to indulge one's sorrow. (You can find this phrase from Vergil illustrated in Vaenius's Amorum emblemata of 1608.)

1536. The sun sees all, and reveals it. (The theme of the "all-seeing sun" is a familiar motif in classical mythology; see, for example, Ovid's Metamorphoses.)

1537. He trembles at everything, if even so much as a mouse moves. (Someone might also be afraid of a mere fly: Muscas metuit praetervolantes, "he fears the flies who fly by.")

1538. It is not allowed to err twice in war. (You can find this saying expressed in many forms, e.g., Non in bello peccare licet bis, In bello non licet bis peccare, etc.)

1539. He who asks hesitantly teaches the other to refuse. (You can find this saying in Seneca's Phaedra.)

1540. When a friend hurts you, he is no different from an enemy. (Compare this similar saying, built on the same basic sentence structure: Amare inepte nil ab odio discrepat, "To love ineptly is no different from hatred.")

1541. A cow who moos a lot has little milk. (In English the cow goes "moo" but in Latin she goes "boo" - boat.)

1542. I do not praise the flower which offers no scent.(The rhyme betrays the medieval origin of this saying.) Non laudo florem qui nullum praebet odorem.

1543. The man who lacks a plan labors in vain. (Note the use of the adverbial frustra. From the related verb frustrare we get the English verb "frustrated.")

1544. The man who strives to please everyone labors in vain. (You can find this saying expressed in many ways, e.g. In vanum laborat qui omnibus placere contendit, "The man who attempts to please everybody labors in vain," etc.)

1545. Nothing is empty of god; he himself fills his work. (This sentiment is found in Seneca's De Beneficiis.)

---

This blog post is part of an evolving online guide for users of the book Latin Via Proverbs.

---

Keep up with the latest posts... Subscribe by Email. I also post a daily round-up of all the Bestiaria Latina blogs: fables, proverbs, crosswords, and audio.