Latin Via Proverbs 139

I hope these notes will help you tackle this group of proverbs in Latin Via Proverbs. This group includes still more third conjugation verbs with 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 139

1796. One swallow does not make it spring. (There is a witty Aesop's fable which takes this saying as the basis for its plot.)

1797. One flower does not make it spring. (This is a nice variation on the more famous saying about one swallow not making spring.)

1798. One flower does not make a garden. (Compare the English saying, "one flower makes no garland.")

1799. One man does not make a dance. (This is a medieval saying. Compare the variant pulchram solus homo nequit exornare choream, "a man by himself cannot furnish a pretty dance." )

1800. Hunger drives the wolf from the forest. (Compare also this similar saying: Summa est in silvis fames dum lupus lupum vorat, "It is the height of hunger in the forest when wolf eats wolf.")

1801. A little bit of bile ruins a whole lot of honey. (This is one of many Latin proverbs that play on the words mel and fel, honey and bile.)

1802. The stomach that rarely goes hungry scorns common food. (This saying is found in Horace.)

1803. The ox, when he is tired, digs in his hoof more strongly. (This saying is featured in one of Jerome's letters.)

1804. Man proposes, but God disposes. (You will find this in Thomas a Kempis.)

1805. Fortune fears the brave but she overwhelms the cowardly. (You will find this in Seneca's Medea.)

1806. Death seizes the best, and leaves the worst. (You will find this in Erasmus's Adagia, 3.9.43.)

---

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.