DUCO

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: DUCO.

Non ducor: duco. ~ Note: This proverb plays very nicely on the active, duco, and passive, ducor, forms of the verb. It serves as the motto of the city of São Paulo in Brazil.

Ducit Dominus. ~ Note: This is the motto of the Dirom family.

Eamus quo ducit fortuna. ~ Note: Here the relative pronoun quo is directional: Eamus (eo) quo ducit fortuna, "Let us go where Lady Luck leads."

Ducit amor patriae. ~ Note: This is the motto of the 361st Infantry division of the United States Army, as you can see here: image.

Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt. ~ Note: The proverb is built on a parallelism: ducunt/trahunt and volentem/nolentem, with a chiastic inversion. Fata is the subject of both verbs.

Nil proprium ducas, quidquid mutari potest. ~ Note: Note how the subjunctive form here, ducas, has the force of a command. The verb ducere has the sense of "consider" - nil proprium ducas, "don't consider anything to be your own." Finally, the passive form mutari can be equivalent to the intransitive use of the English word "change" (as opposed to the transitive "change" = mutare).

Idem egoque tuque ducimus pariter iugum. ~ Note: Note the -que...-que construction, which is like the et...et construction: "both... and..." You can also find the saying in this shortened form: Idem iugum ducimus.

Verba ducunt, exempla trahunt. ~ Note: The same idea as the previous saying, but with a slightly different comparison: (merely) leading versus actually dragging you along.

Dulcior est fructus post multa pericula ductus. ~ Note: The rhyme (fructus-ductus) reveals the medieval origins of this saying, which made its way into Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, 3.41. It is also one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 275.

Tuae sortis uxorem ducito. ~ Note: Note the future imperative: ducito. The idiom ducere uxorem means to marry, and you can see here how the Latin word "sors" ultimately gives us the English word "sort" (even though we have lost the sense of supernatural fate and allotment in our use of that word).

Volentem bovem ducito. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 4.1.27.

Volentem bovem ducito. ~ Note: The form ducito is another example of a future imperative, this time from the verb duco.

Prius lupus ovem ducat uxorem. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 3.7.36.

Consuetudo volentes ducit, lex nolentes trahit. ~ Note: Note the parallel structure: consuetudo/lex, volentes/nolentes, ducit/trahit.

Oportet remum ducere qui didicit. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings that Erasmus included in his Adagia, 1.2.76.

Natura ducimur ad scientiae cupiditatem. ~ Note: The words are adapted from Cicero's De Officiis, 1.

Felix qui meruit tranquillam ducere vitam. ~ Note: The verb meruit can take a complementary infinitive: ducere. Note also how the object phrase, tranquillam vitam, wraps nicely around the infinitive. The words are from the first elegy of Maximianus.

Sicut equos domitant et ducunt frena, capistra: sic docet ac ducit nos consuetudo magistra. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1228.

Ut volucres laqueo, piscis sic ducitur hamo. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 221.

Arcta est via, quae ducit ad vitam. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B260.

Spatiosa est via, quae ducit ad perditionem. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B261.

Si caecum caecus ducit, ambo in foveam cadunt. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B133.

Trans mare ducatur cattus, "mau" vociferatur. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1368.