HOMO

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: HOMO.

ad hominem ~ Note: Also found in the form "argumentum ad hominem," this is a logical fallacy that bases the attack on the personal qualities of the opponent, not on the topic in question. You can read more about this fallacy at Wikipedia.

Non est bonum esse hominem solum. ~ Note: Here you have bonum as a substantive adjective: a good thing - non est bonum, it is not a good thing. Meanwhile, hominem and solum are in the accusative, because the subject of an infinitive goes into the accusative case. The infinitive itself, meanwhile, is the subject for the sentence, which you can render into English this way: A man being alone is not a good thing, For a man to be alone is not a good thing, It is not a good thing for a man to be alone, etc. The words are God's, from Genesis 2, when he is deciding to create a companion for Adam.

Qui nihil amat, quid ei homini opus vita est? ~ Note: Once again you have both the dative (ei homini) and ablative (vita) complements of the phrase opus est.

Alii homines, alii mores. ~ Note: This is another of those "aliud…aliud" sayings: Some people act one way, other people act a different way (although Latin manages to say all that with just four words, of course!).

Homines sunt eiusdem generis. ~ Note: A genitive phrase can be used in the predicate, as here, to describe something, much like the English idiom, "People are all of the same type," i.e. we belong to the same type, the same species.

In hominum vita nihil est certi. ~ Note: Or, to put it more succinctly: Nil homini certum.

Fortuna hominibus plus quam consilium valet. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Publilius Syrus.

Placeat homini quidquid deo placuit. ~ Note: Note the subjunctive, placeat: "Let whatever has pleased god be pleasing to man." The words are from one of the letters of Seneca, 74.

Non semper homo talis est, qualis dicitur. ~ Note: Note the implied verb here: qualis (esse) dicitur, "as he is said (to be)."

Homo, diu vivendo, multa, quae non vult, videt. ~ Note: You have the gerund in the ablative case: diu vivendo, "by living a long time, as a result of living a long time."

Nihil agendo, homines male agere discunt. ~ Note: Here you have the gerund used in the ablative, nihil agendo: by doing nothing, while doing nothing, etc.

Homo a suo socio cognoscitur. ~ Note: For an Aesop's fable about this topic, see the fable of the stork and the farmer.

Nolite fieri servi hominum. ~ Note: The masculine plural nominative, servi, agrees with the implied subject of the verb, vos: you, plural.

Hominum mentes variae. ~ Note: This is a good saying to help remind you of the gender of the noun, mens - feminie; hence mentes variae.

Nescit homo finem suum. ~ Note: The words are from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, 9.

Fata regunt homines. ~ Note: You will find this observation in Juvenal's Satirae, 9.

Vires hominis breves sunt. ~ Note: These words are invoked as an example of catachresis, or what we might call a mixed metaphor, in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, 4.45. The idea is that the terms "longus" and "brevis" do not really apply to the idea of a person's strength - except insofar as a person's strength might be short-lived, which is an extension of the meaning of "brevis," but not its literal meaning.

Brevis hominum vita. ~ Note: For the phrase in context, consider these words of St. Augustine (In Psalmum 72): Iniquus cogitet quam sit brevis hominum vita, "Let the wicked man think how short human life is."

Hoc facias homini quod cupis esse tibi. ~ Note: Note the use of the subjunctive expressing the idea of a command or obligation: You should do...

Vita hominis cursus est ad mortem. ~ Note: You have seen other proverbs about the entanglement of life and death, such as "Nascentes morimur" and "Vita morti propior cotidie." Here is another version of this same saying: Vita ipsa cursus ad mortem est.

Mors omnes homines manet, divites et pauperes. ~ Note: Note the way that manet can take a direct object, in the sense of the English word "await, wait for."

Homo videt in facie, deus autem in corde. ~ Note: Note the nice parallel structure: homo/deus, facie/corde, with the verb videt doing double duty.

Mente nihil homini dedit Deus ipse divinius. ~ Note: The words are from Cicero's De Officiis, 3. Note the neuter form of the comparative adjective: divinius.

Quid est in homine ratione divinius? ~ Note: Note that quid is neuter, hence the neuter form of the comparative adjective: divinius, with ratione as the ablative expressing the comparison - "more godlike than the power of reason."

Si sciret equus se esse equum, optaret esse homo. ~ Note: Note that the imperfect subjunctives convey a contrary-to-fact situation: Si sciret equus... (if the horse knew - but he does not).

Homo mundus minor. ~ Note: The Greek equivalent of the Latin mundus minor is μικρὸς κόσμος, a "microcosm."

Homo semper aliud, fortuna aliud cogitat. ~ Note: This is another of those "aliud…aliud" sayings: It always happens that a person has one thing in mind, and luck has something else in mind.

Litterae sunt hominibus pulcherrimae divitiae. ~ Note: Here you have a superlative statement: learning is not just a sweet fruit, but the most beautiful form of wealth, pulcherrimae divitiae.

Homo doctus in se divitias semper habet. ~ Note: Compare the saying you saw earlier: Sapiens sua bona secum fert.

Natus es homo, moriturus es. ~ Note: You can find these reflections in Saint Augustine: Natus es homo, moriturus es. Quo ibis, ut non moriaris? quid facies ut non moriaris?

Est homo vix natus ex omni parte beatus. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 343.

Homo non sibi soli natus, sed patriae. ~ Note: Note the contrasting dative phrases: "for oneself alone," sibi soli, and "for the country," patriae. Although the forms soli and patriae are ambiguous, the word sibi is a good clue that you are dealing with datives!

Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto. ~ Note: The words are from Terence's Heauton Timorumenos.

Omnes homines terra et cinis. ~ Note: The words are from the Biblical book of Sirach, 17.

Astra regunt homines sed regit astra Deus. ~ Note: Note the elegant parallel astra-Deus and homines-astra, with a chiastic inversion that has astra the subject of regunt and then the object of regit. Lovely! Even Sir Walter Scott was fond of this one, and inserted it into the words of the astrologer in Kenilworth.

Non est homo qui non peccet. ~ Note: Note the subjunctive in the relative clause, peccet, which generalizes the statement to a hypothetical generalization, "no man at all."

Talis hominum oratio, qualis vita. ~ Note: This expresses the same idea as "Qualis vir, talis oratio," but now with the parallel between oratio and vita. This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A82.

Pacem cum inimicis, bellum cum vitiis. ~ Note: Note the parallel structure: pacem/bellum and hominibus/vitiis.

Beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam. ~ Note: These words come from the Biblical book of Proverbs, 3.

Nulla scientia melior est illa, qua cognoscit homo se ipsum. ~ Note: The words are from Saint Augustine's treatise De Spiritu et Anima.

Omnia homini, dum vivit, speranda sunt. ~ Note: Here you have a gerundive, this time with a subject: omnia, all things. The agent of the gerundive is expressed with a dative: homini. You might render this in English as, "So long as he is alive, a person should keep hope for all things."

Non omnes homines sunt homines; non omnes episcopi sunt episcopi. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B38.

Homini nihil habenti nihil deest. ~ Note: The word nihil is the object of the participle, habenti: the man who has nothing (nihil habenti) lacks nothing (nihil deest). Note that the verb deest takes a dative complement: homini.

Homo ad laborem natus, et avis ad volatum. ~ Note: The words are adapted from the Biblical book of Job, 7. Compare the version included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B226: Homo ad laborem nascitur.

Homo sapiens tacebit usque ad tempus. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B332.

Homo tacere qui nescit, nescit loqui. ~ Note: Here you see that the verb nescire can take an infinitive complement: nescit tacere, "he does not know (how) to keep quiet."

Nusquam melius morimur homines, quam ubi libenter viximus. ~ Note: This is another one of the sayings collected by Publilius Syrus. Note the perfect form of vivo: viximus.

Homini nihil inimicius quam sibi ipse. ~ Note: The indeclinable noun nihil is regarded as neuter singular, hence the adjective: inimicius (neuter comparative of inimicus). The adjective inimicus in turn takes a dative complement: homini... sibi.

Saepe nihil inimicius homini quam sibi ipse. ~ Note: The indeclinable nihil is treated as a neuter noun, as you can see from the adjective, inimicius (neuter comparative form of inimicus).

Inimicus, ut homo, diligendus est. ~ Note: Here the gerundive expresses the idea of necessity or obligation; the masculine singular form agrees with the subject, inimicus: You must love your enemy in that he is a person.

Cave ab homine unius libri. ~ Note: Here is another example of the verb cavere used with the preposition ab.

Nulli est homini perpetuum bonum. ~ Note: Notice how the dative phrase, nulli...homini, wraps nicely around the verb.

Non in solo pane vivit homo. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B113.

Quot homines, tot sententiae. ~ Note: This is another quot...tot saying: "There are as many opinions as there are people." Notice that quot and tot are indeclinable, not changing for gender - quot homines (masculine), tot sententiae (feminine). This is one of the sayings that Erasmus included in his Adagia, 1.3.7.

Aliud homini, aliud bovi. ~ Note: This is another of those "aliud…aliud" sayings: One things for the man, another for the ox. The saying is adapted from Cicero's De Finibus, 5.

Malus homo de malo thesauro profert mala. ~ Note: This is the flipside of the previous saying, also from the Gospel of Matthew, 12. It is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B420.

Bonus homo de bono thesauro profert bona. ~ Note: These words are from the Gospel of Matthew, 12. This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B419.

Homo homini lupus. ~ Note: For a history of his phrase, see the Wikipedia article. This is one of the sayings that Erasmus included in his Adagia, 1.1.70.

Homo homini aut deus aut lupus. ~ Note: Erasmus cited two different sayings in his Adagia - he included "homo homini lupus" (see previous saying) along with "homo homini deus" (Adagia 1.1.69), thus providing a more optimistic perspective on the human condition. The saying "Homo homini aut deus aut lupus" is widely attributed to Erasmus, but I do not have a citation for that - if anybody can provide a specific Erasmus citation, that would be great! The saying "Homo homini deus" is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A1.

Mentem hominis agnoscis ex operibus eius. ~ Note: The words are adapted from Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, 1.

Hominis mens discendo alitur. ~ Note: Note the use of the gerund in the ablative case, discendo: "by means of learning, by learning."

Grave senectus est hominibus pondus. ~ Note: Notice how the predicate phrase, grave pondus, wraps around the entire sentence.

Vita hominis militia est. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B441.

Homines ad iustitiam nati sunt. ~ Note: The words are adapted from Cicero's De Legibus, 1.

Bonum est potius confidere in domino, quam in homine. ~ Note: The words are from Psalms, 117. This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B132.

Eveniunt homini post luctus gaudia saepe. ~ Note: The line is a dactylic hexameter.

Sit omnis homo velox ad audiendum, tardus autem ad loquendum. ~ Note: Note the use of the gerund in the accusative with ad to express something like the English infinitive: velox ad audiendum, "quick to listen." Note also the subjunctive, sit omnis homo, "let each person be..." (the subjunctive, of course, because people really are just the opposite: quick to speak, and slow to pay attention!).

Primum hominis officium est suo esse contentum. ~ Note: Notice how the infinitive phrase, "suo esse contentum," functions as a noun here, providing the predicate of the sentence.

Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu. ~ Note: The words are from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, 8, and it is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B316.

Luceat lux vestra coram hominibus. ~ Note: Luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona.

O fallacem hominum spem! ~ Note: Here you have an example of the accusative of explanation - spem, not spes.

Ardua res homini mortali vincere numen. ~ Note: The infinitive phrase, vincere numen, is being used as a noun: ardua res (est)... vincere numen.

Inimici hominis domestici eius. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B282.

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

Memoria hominis fragilis est. ~ Note: You can also find the same idea expresses this way: Memoria hominum labilis est.

Homo sine religione sicut equus sine freno. ~ Note: You can find this same metaphor used for similar expressions, such as: Claustrum absque observatione silentii est velut equus sine freno.

Varietate homines delectantur. ~ Note: This takes up the same idea again, this time with people, homines, as the subject of the verb.

Oderunt di homines iniustos. ~ Note: You will also find this saying in the form: Oderunt di homines iniuros.

Homines vitia sua et amant simul et oderunt. ~ Note: Homines can be nominative or accusative, as can the phrase vitia sua; it is the meaning which lets you know that homines must be the subject of the verbs, and vitia sua the object.

Qui vitia odit, homines odit. ~ Note: As often, the antecedent of the relative pronoun is not expressed: (Is), qui vitia odit, homines odit.

Omnis homo simili sui sociabitur. ~ Note: In the previous proverb you saw a passive present subjunctive form (sociēris), while in this proverb you have an example of a passive future indicative: sociabitur.

Omnis homo in mundo fragilis stat sicut arundo. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 816.

Verba ligant homines, taurorum cornua funes. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1430.

Magis homines oboediunt auro quam Christo. ~ Note: Note again the dative complements with the verb oboediunt: auro and Christo, which are being compared - magis oboediunt auro quam (oboediunt) Christo.

Homo bulla est. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 2.3.48; it is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A25.

Vita hominis peregrinatio. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 4.10.74.

Ut pisces hamo, ita homines beneficio capiuntur. ~ Note: This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A177. Note the parallel structure, coordinated by the "ita" and "ut" - ut pisces hamo (capiuntur), ita homines beneficio capiuntur.

Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed saepe cadendo; sic homo fit doctus, non vi, sed saepe legendo. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 482.

Non durant actus, homo quos facit ipse coactus. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 722.

Iesus Hominum Salvator ~ Note: This Latin phrase is often abbreviated: I.H.S. - although this is what is called a "backronym," as you can read in the Wikipedia article about the Christogram and its history.