DIES

The notes here are taken from the actual Scala, so be warned that references to the "previous" proverb refer to its order in the Scala, not its order here. You can read more about the word at the Verbosum blog: DIES.per diem ~ Note: This Latin phrase is often abbreviated: p.d. For the use of this phrase in English, see this Wikipedia article. Compare also the similar phrase, "per annum," abbreviated p.a.

Nullus agenti dies longus est. ~ Note: This proverb looks similar to the previous one, but it is actually turned inside-out by using nullus instead of nil. Nullus agrees with dies and give you the subject: "no day is long" for the person who is working (agenti).

Vive in diem. ~ Note: We use a slightly different idiom to express this idea in English: live for the day, live for today. This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 1.8.62.

Noctem dies sequitur. ~ Note: You can find this saying in Seneca's reflections on nature in one of his Epistulae ad Lucilium, 107.

Dies diem docet. ~ Note: We might say in English, "One day teaches another."

Stat sua cuique dies. ~ Note: This is another one of those "cuique suus" type of sayings. Note that the day referred to here is the final day of life, the day of death; here is the context in Vergil's Aeneid, 10: stat sua cuique dies, breve et inreparabile tempus / omnibus est vitae.

Nox tibi longa venit nec reditura dies. ~ Note: The words are from an elegy of Propertius, 2.15.

Lumen Dei, lex diei. ~ Note: This is a sundial inscription which plays nicely with the genitives "dei" and "diei" - I'm not sure how to capture that in English!

Nemo nisi suo die moritur. ~ Note: This is an expression you can find in Seneca's Epistulae Morales, 7.

Primo quoque die nemo magister erit. ~ Note: See the note on the previous proverb; now instead of doctus, you have magister.

Nemo primo quoque die fit doctus. ~ Note: Note that primo goes with die: "primo die," on the first day. The word "quoque" is being used here with the sense of the word "quidem" - On the first day indeed no one becomes educated.

Diem nox premit, dies noctem. ~ Note: The words come from one of Seneca's Letters, 3.24: Nullius rei finis est, sed in orbem nexa sunt omnia, fugiunt ac sequuntur; diem nox premit, dies noctem, aestas in autumnum desinit, autumno hiems instat, quae vere compescitur; omnia sic transeunt ut revertantur.

Roma non fuit una die condita. ~ Note: This is a variation on the preceding saying, now with "fuit condita" instead of "condebatur." Compare yet another version: Roma sola die non fuerat aedificata.

Roma non uno condebatur die. ~ Note: Compare the famous English saying, "Rome was not built in a day." Here the phrase one day, uno die, wraps elegantly around the verb: uno condebatur die.

Tenere non potes, potes non perdere diem. ~ Note: The chiastic word order (non potes : potes non) adds to the charm of this sun-dial inscription, which lets you know that you cannot stop the passing of time, but it is within your power not to waste that time.

Breves dies et horae omnia sunt. ~ Note: Notice the subject and predicate of this sundial motto: the subject is "omnia," everything - while "breves dies et hora" is the predicate, "short days and hours." In other words, the world is made up of time - the days and the hours - which pass by so quickly!

Singulos dies singulas vitas puta. ~ Note: The words are from one of the letters of Seneca, 101.

Omnes dies pauperis mali. ~ Note: The words are from the Biblical book of Proverbs, 15.

Nil agenti dies longus est. ~ Note: Notice that the participle agenti here is in the dative case and takes nil as its object: for someone who does nothing (nil agenti), the day is long.

Summum nec metuas diem, nec optes. ~ Note: Notice how the object phrase, summum diem (the highest, or last, day of life) wraps around the verb.

Dies imago vitae, nox mortis est. ~ Note: This proverb is built on a nice parallelism: dies/nox and vitae/mortis. The genitives are both complements of the word image.

Damna fleo rerum, sed plus fleo damna dierum. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 211.

Non revocare potes qui perierunt dies. ~ Note: Note here that the relative pronoun qui refers to the days that have passed by, the object of revocare: Non revocare potes (dies) qui perierunt.

Una dies sapientem non perficit. ~ Note: Una dies sapientem non perficit, nec unus infaustus dies eum indoctum facit.

Saepe dat una dies quod non evenit in anno. ~ Note: As often, the antecedent of the relative pronoun is not expressed: Saepe dat una dies (hoc), quod non evenit in anno.

Fac hodie: fugit haec non reditura dies. ~ Note: The line is from a couplet by Owen: Cras, dicis, faciam, concessaque labitur hora; / Fac hodie, fugit haec non reditura dies.

Ne differas de die in diem. ~ Note: The words are from the Biblical book of Sirach, 5.

Una serena dies multas pellit cito nubes. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1396.

Mortis dies omnibus incertus. ~ Note: Here the adjective omnibus is being used substantively to mean everyone, everybody, all people: The day of death is something unknown to all.

Disce dies numerare tuos. ~ Note: This is a sundial inscription; as often, the sundial "speaks" to us, issuing a command: disce.

In die bona, fruere bonis. ~ Note: The words are from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, 7.

Fruere die dum licet. ~ Note: The impersonal licet can be rendered with a generalized "you" in English: Enjoy the day while you can.

Dies levat luctum. ~ Note: Compare the saying you saw earlier: Tempus dolorem lenit.

Sit pax et veritas in diebus meis. ~ Note: You will find this sentiment expressed in the Biblical book of II Kings, 20.

Diem vesper commendat. ~ Note: This restates the same idea with vesper now as the subject of the verb.

Vespere laudatur dies. ~ Note: This is another one of those sayings about waiting until the end of something before passing judgment, as in the proverb you just saw: Lauda finem.

Lux iter est, et clara dies, et gratia simplex. ~ Note: This is a line from Prudentius.

O quam difficiles sunt sine pace dies. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 841: Pacem ne vites, per pacem te quoque dites. / O quam difficiles sunt sine pace dies.

Post noctem spero diem, post nubila solem. ~ Note: Post noctem spero diem, post nubila solem, / post lacrimas risum laetitiamque simul.

Dies adimit hominibus dolorem. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A71.

Nocte dieque cave tempus consumere prave. ~ Note: Wegeler collected the first line of this couplet, 692: Nocte, dieque cave, tempus consumere prave, / ut flos et ventus transibit nostra iuventus.

Nulla dies sit sine linea. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A60.

Nullus dies omnino malus. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 4.10.88.

Post tres saepe dies piscis vilescit et hospes. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 931.

Ipsa dies quandoque parens, quandoque noverca. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 1.8.64.

Qui cupit in lecto lucem videre diei, divitiae atque honor hic raro dabuntur ei. ~ Note: Qui cupit in lecto lucem videre diei, / divitiae atque honor hic raro dabuntur ei.