451. Serum auxilium post proelium.
[serus: late, too late, slow] You can find this sentiment expressed in Livy's History of Rome, 3.
452. Serum est post facta consilium.
Note that in English we say "after the fact" while Latin prefers the plural: "after the facts" ("after the things-having-been-done").
453. Numquam sera ad bonos mores via.
[numquam: never, not ever] The adjective "sera" is the predicate here; the idea is that it is never too late to start down the road to good behavior.
454. Numquam scelus scelere vincendum est.
Here you have the gerundive, vincendum, used with a neuter noun: scelus, "Crime should never be avenged by a crime."
455. Rex numquam moritur.
Compare the English expression, "The King is dead; long live the King!" which marks the death of the king and the immediate succession of the new king.
456. Qui numquam male, numquam bene.
Note that you have adverbs here (male, bene), but no expressed verb. Most generally, the idea is "Someone who never does wrong, never does right" - but if the saying is being used in some specific context, it could imply a more specific verb. For example, if you are trying to speak Latin and find yourself making some mistakes, don't worry: qui numquam male (loquitur), numquam bene (loquitur).
457. Odium numquam potest esse bonum.
[odium: hate, hatred] This is declaration by the 17th-century philosopher, Spinoza.
458. Tempus lenit odium.
[lenio: alleviate, ease, moderate] You can find this sentiment expressed in Ovid's Ibis, "Leniat aut odium tempus et hora meum."
459. Tempus dolorem lenit.
[dolor: pain, grief, sorrow] You can see this motto as a tattoo here: image.
460. Ubi amor, ibi dolor.
This is another one of those correlative ubi...ibi proverbs: Where (when) there is love, there is heartache.
461. Ubi dolor, ibi digitus.
[digitus: finger, toe, digit] Note the nice alliteration in this one: dolor-digitus. For the odd story of this saying in a funeral inscription for a boy killed by a tennis ball, see the information about the Stanley child effigy in the Arderne Tomb.
462. Summum malum dolor.
[summus: highest, top, chief, greatest] You can find this sentiment discussed in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, 5. Be careful to distinguish between subject and predicate here, since the verb is not expressed: summum malum (est) dolor.
463. Ad summa per ardua.
[arduus: steep, uphill, difficult] For this motto incorporated into a coat of arms, look here: image.
464. Amor ardua vincit.
Note the nice alliteration: amor-ardua.
465. Nil volentibus arduum.
Careful with the "nil" here - it is not the object of the participle, but is instead the subject of the sentence: Nothing is difficult for those who are willing (volentibus).
466. Nihil audentibus arduum.
See the note about "nil" in the previous proverb; "nihil" is likewise the subject of this statement.
467. Per ardua surgo.
[surgo: rise, lift, grow] This is the Ahern family motto.
468. Surge, qui dormis!
[dormio: sleep] You can find this expression in the Biblical letter to the Ephesians, 5.
469. Dormit in pace.
This Latin phrase is abbreviated in catacomb inscriptions: D.I.P. (Compare the phrase R.I.P, "requiescat in pace.")
470. Tu dormis, et tempus ambulat.
[ambulo: walk] This is adapted from the commentary by Saint Ambrose on Psalm 1.
471. Ambulate dum lucem habetis.
You will find this saying in the Gospel of John, 12.
472. Cum bonis ambula.
This is advice offered by Cato (so-called) in his Monostichs.
473. Surge et ambula.
These words come are adapted from the Gospel of Mark, 2.
474. Recta via ambula.
[rectus: direct, straight, correct, right; adv. recte] Note that recta via must be in the ablative here, since they cannot form the subject of the sentence: rectā viā.
475. Pulchre, bene, recte!
This is a motto composed of three adverbs: pulchre (adverb from the adjective pulcher), bene (adverb from bonus) and recte (adverb from rectus).
476. Fac recte et nil time.
The idea is that there is a causal connection between these two things: if you act rightly, you do not need to fear anything.
477. Recte faciendo neminem timeas.
This expresses the same idea as the previous proverb, but this time using a gerund (recte faciendo: "by doing right"), and a subjunctive instead of an imperative (neminem timeas, "fear no one").
478. Vive recte, et gaude.
You can see here how important it is to distinguish between the different information that can be conveyed by similar word endings: "vive" and "gaude" are imperatives, while "recte" is an adverb.
479. Rex eris, si recte facies.
This proverb plays on the etymology of the words "rex" and "rectus" (from the verb "rego") - all ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *reg- "move in a straight line," also "to rule, to lead straight, to put right" - which is the origin of our English word "right" as well.
480. Recta pete.
Here you have recta in the neuter plural: seek (things that are) right.
481. Cum recte vivas, ne cures verba malorum.
You can also find the saying in this form: Si tu recta facis, ne cures verba malorum.
482. Quae recta, tene.
[teneo: hold, keep, possess] As often, the Latin relative pronoun has no expressed antecedent: tene (haec), quae recta (sunt).
483. Rem tene; verba sequentur!
Note the future tense: sequuntur. (It's all a matter of vowels: sequuntur, present indicative; sequantur, present subjunctive; sequenter, future indicative.)
484. Sua tenenda cuique.
Here you have a gerundive expressing the idea of necessity; sua is neuter plural, hence the neuter plural tenenda. As usual, the dative - cuique - is being used to express agency. In English, you might say: "Each person should hold on to what is his" (or hers!).
485. Quod tuum, tene!
[tuus: your, yours (singular)] This expresses the same idea as the previous proverb, but now it is put into second person, using an imperative: Hold on to what is yours!
486. Res tuas tibi habe.
This is a phrase that a spouse could use to request a divorce.
487. Tuas res tibi habeto, tuas res tibi agito.
This, too, was a formula for requesting a divorce; both habeto and agito are future imperatives, commonly found in ritualistic expressions.
488. Tua quod nil refert, ne cures.
Notice that refert is actually a compound of re and fert, meaning "to have to do with something, be your business." The word tua agrees with the re in refert: Tua quod nil re-fert, "That which has nothing to do with you..."
489. Nosce te; nosce animum tuum.
You can find this advice in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, 1.
490. Utere sorte tua.
You can find this advice in Vergil's Aeneid, 1. Note that "utere" is one of those sneaky imperatives, from the deponent verb utor, which takes an ablative complement - hence "sorte tua."
491. Tuae sortis uxorem ducito.
[uxor: wife] 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).
492. Vive tua sorte contentus.
[contentus: content, satisfied with] The adjective "contentus" takes an ablative complement: "content with your lot."
493. Esto tua sorte contentus.
Here you have a future imperative form: esto, "be!"
494. Quisque sua contentus sorte vivat.
Note the subjunctive: vivat, "Let each person live..."
495. Nemo sua sorte contentus vivit.
This is a more pessimistic variation on the preceding sayings!
496. Meo contentus sum.
Here is a more affirmative declaration of the idea of contentment. Are you content with what is yours? I am! Meo contenta sum!
497. Felix sua sorte contentus.
[felix: happy, lucky, successful; adv. feliciter] To follow the word of the Latin, we have to expand a bit in English: Felix (is qui es) sua sorte contentus, "Happy (is the man who is) content with his lot."
498. Felix est non aliis qui videtur, sed sibi.
Note the parallel structure: Felix est non aliis qui videtur, sed sibi (felix videtur).
499. Felix qui nihil debet.
[debeo: owe, be indebted, ought, must] Again, it helps to expand a bit on the Latin if you want to translate into English: Felix (est is) qui nihil debet.
500. Omnia debeo deo.
The sound play of "debeo" and "deo" is the key to this saying, although I am not sure how it would be possible to translate that into English! There is the Grenehalgh family motto.
Scala 11 (501-550)
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