1501. Qui invenit amicum, invenit thesaurum.
Here is another alternative to the treasure that is money: the treasure that is friendship.
1502. Ubi thesaurus, ibi oculus.
Compare the saying you saw earlier: Ubi amor, ibi oculus.
1503. Ubi thesaurus tuus, ibi et cor tuum.
[cor: heart, mind, intellect] You can find these words in the Gospel of Matthew, 6.
1504. In corde spes, vis et vita.
You can see this motto on a memorial medallion here: image.
1505. Non oderis fratrem tuum in corde tuo.
Here you see the perfect subjunctive being used to express a negative command: Do not hate. You can find this admonition in the Biblical book of Leviticus, 19.
1506. Vincere cor proprium plus est quam vincere mundum.
Here you have a comparison between two infinitive phrases, "vincere cor tuum" and "vincere mundum."
1507. Frangit fortia corda dolor.
These words come from one of the elegies in the Tibullan corpus (but probably not by Tibullus), 3.2.
1508. Procul ab oculis, procul a corde.
[procul: far from, at a distance] Compare the English saying, "Out of sight, out of mind."
1509. Quod procul ab oculis, procul ab animo.
This is a variation on the previous saying, this time with "animus" instead of "cor" - although both cor and animus can be rendered as "mind" in English if you want.
1510. Fuge procul a viro maiore.
Note the comparative here: not just a magnus vir, but a maior vir - a man who is greater than you are.
1511. Neque prope, neque procul.
[prope: near, nearby, close] This is one of those proverbs that urges you to avoid the two extremes (prope and procul), while sticking safely to a position in the middle.
1512. Quo maior gloria, eo propior invidiae.
The ablatives quo and eo coordinate the comparison: "The greater the glory, the closer it is to envy" (i.e. the closer it comes to provoking other people's envy). You can find these words in Livy, 35, writing about Scipio.
1513. Vita morti propior cotidie.
[cotidie: daily, day by day] The adjective prope takes a dative complement as you can see here: morti propior, "closer to death."
1514. Cotidie morimur.
The words are from Seneca, in one of his letters to Lucilius, 3.24: Cotidie morimur; cotidie enim demitur aliqua pars vitae.
1515. Cotidie peius.
[peior: worse] This is a quite pessismistic saying: every day, it's getting worse! (whatever "it" might be depends on the context).
1516. De malo in peius.
Compare the English saying, "From bad to worse."
1517. Timor mortis morte peior.
Here you have the masculine comparative form, peior, agreeing with the noun timor. You can see a chiastic pattern here, too, which juxtaposes the genitive mortis (timor mortis) with the ablative morte (peiore morte).
1518. Omnia in peius ruunt.
[ruo: ruin, rush, run, fall, be ruined] This is an even more dramatic "from bad to worse" proverb - now everything is rushing headlong (ruunt) into something worse.
1519. In se magna ruunt.
The words are from the poet Lucan, in reference to the downfall of great efforts - they crash down upon themselves, all as part of a divine plan: In se magna ruunt: laetis hunc numina rebus / crescendi posuere modum.
1520. Ruit hora.
This is a variation on the idea of "tempus fugit." Compare the English saying, "Time flies."
1521. Ruit hora: labora.
Here is some advice for coping with the passage of time - and it rhymes, too!
1522. Hora ruit; venit mors.
[venio: come] Just to make the quick passage of time more alarming, this proverb reminds you about what is coming: mors.
1523. Ad maiora veniamus.
Note the subjunctive, veniamus: Let us move on to greater things. The idea is that we are setting aside trifles in order to move on: Sed nimis multa de nugis: ad maiora veniamus. You can find these words in one of Cicero's Philippics, 2.
1524. Ad magna praemia magno labore venitur.
The passive verb, venitur, is an impersonal construction - you can render it with a generalizing "we" in English: "We means of great effort, we reach great rewards."
1525. Nihil venit sine industria, nisi paupertas.
This provides the negative flipside of the previous saying: with great efforts come great rewards, but without work (sine industria), nothing comes but poverty.
1526. Hoc sustinete, maius ne veniat malum.
These words come from Phaedrus's version of the fable of the frogs who wanted a king.
1527. Veni, vidi, vici.
For more about these famous words of Julius Caesar, see this Wikipedia article.
1528. Praestat sero quam non venire.
Recall that the verb praestare can introduce the idea of a comparison, expressed here with quam: it is more outstanding to come late than not to come at all. Compare the English saying, "Better late than never."
1529. Multi ad fatum venere suum, dum fata timent.
Note the use of the form venere, which is equivalent to venerunt. Notice also how the prepositional phrase ad fatum...suum wraps elegantly around that verb.
1530. Sero venientes, male sedentes.
[sedeo: sit, take a seat, settle, remain] Note the parallel structure: sero/male and venientes/sedentes.
1531. Tarde venientes, male sedentes.
[tardus: slow, late] Here you see the adverbial form of the adjective, tardus: tarde.
1532. Potius tarde quam numquam.
The forms potis and pote are rarely form, but the comparative potius is frequently used to express comparisons, as here: Better (preferably, rather) late than never.
1533. Nulla aetas ad discendum tarda.
Here you see the gerund, discendum, in the accusative case: No time of life is too late for learning (ad discendum).
1534. Tarde sed tute.
[tutus: safe, secure, protected] Here the contrast is between being late and being safe: something may happen late but at least it happened safely.
1535. Cavendo tutus.
This proverb features a gerund in the ablative: cavendo, "by taking care, by being careful." You can also find this saying with the promise provided by a future tense verb: Cavendo tutus eris.
1536. Dum vigilo, tutus.
Note that this kind of motto needs to be adjusted if you are a woman and want to use it for yourself: Dum vigilo, tuta. This is one of the mottoes of the Gordon family.
1537. Domi manere tutum.
The form domi is an archaic locative, "at home." The infinitive manere is regarded as a neuter noun, hence the neuter form tutum: Staying at home is safe.
1538. Tutius est tacere quam loqui.
Here you have the comparative form of tutus: tutius, safer. The objects of comparison are the two infinitives: tacere and loqui.
1539. Tutior est certa pax quam sperata victoria.
You can also find this same basic idea expressed this way: Melior est tuta pax quam sperata victoria.
1540. In medio tutissimus.
This is one of many proverbs about avoiding extremes: staying in the middle (in medio), you will be completely safe - tutissimus.
1541. Via tuta virtus.
The sound play in this proverb adds much to its chart, something that is hard to capture in English.
1542. Per quae sis tutus, illa semper cogites.
The relative pronoun quae refers to the illa, "those things" - with the subjunctive cogites expressing a command: You should always be thinking those thoughts (illa), by means of which you can be safe.
1543. Socius fidelis anchora tuta est.
[fidelis: trustworthy, faithful, reliable] Compare the earlier proverb you saw about a metaphorical anchor: Spes anchora vitae.
1544. Pace belloque fidelis.
Note the use of the ablatives to express the idea of time: Faithful in peace (time) and in war (time).
1545. Semper fidelis.
This is the motto of the US Marine Corps, often abbreviated to "Semper fi." For more about this saying, see this Wikipedia article.
1546. Fortiter, fideliter, feliciter.
This motto consists of three adverbs, connected by alliteration. You can make up your own motto by combining three adverbs that express your own approach to life!
1547. Fideli nihil difficile.
Here you have the dative form of fidelis, fideli: For a faithful person, nothing is difficult.
1548. Forti et fideli nihil difficile.
This expands on the previous proverb with the dative forti.
1549. Fideliores sunt oculi auribus.
Here you have the comparative form of fidelis, fidelior.
1550. Nemo est in amore fidelis.
These words are from one of the elegies by Propertius, 2.34.
Scala 32 (1551-1600)
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