Saturday, July 16, 2011

Scala 45 (2201-2250)

<== Go back to Scala 44 (2151-2200)

2201. Non omne licitum honestum.

[honestus: respectable, honorable, honest] Note the participle here, licitum, "that which is permitted" (compare the English adjectives "licit" and "illicit").


2202. Non omne quod licet honestum est.

This expresses the same idea as the previous saying, but this time with a relative clause, (hoc) quod licet, rather than a participle, licitum.


2203. Honesta non sunt omnia quae licent.

This takes the same idea and expands it to the plural, so instead of omne, "each thing, every thing," you have omnia, "all things, everything."


2204. Honesta peto.

This is a motto of the Oliphant family.


2205. Ab amicis honesta petamus.

Note the subjunctive, petamus: Let us seek... The words are from Cicero's treatise, De Amicitia.


2206. Difficilia quae honesta.

As often, the antecedent of the relative pronoun is omitted, as is the verb: Difficilia (sunt haec) quae honesta.


2207. Quod utile, honestum.

As in the previous saying, both the relative pronoun's antecedent and verb are implied but not stated: (Hoc), quod utile, honestum (est). You can find a discussion of the relationship between what is utile and what is honestum in Cicero's De Officiis, 3.


2208. Nihil est utile, nisi quod honestum est.

Like the previous saying, this provides an equation of what is utile and what is honestum: nothing can be utile if it is not honestum.


2209. Honesta quam magna.

Note how the word "quam" here implies a comparison, even though there is no comparative adjective or adverb. The idea is something like this: (Malo) honesta quam magna, "(I want) honest things rather than great things."


2210. Potius est honeste pauperem esse, quam divitem male.

Here you see quam being used in an explicit comparison between two infinitive phrases, "honeste pauperem esse" and "divitem male (esse)." Note also the parallelism with a chiastic inversion: honeste/male and pauperem/divitem.


2211. Honesta fama melior pecunia est.

[fama: reputation, rumor, public opinion] Note that here pecunia is in the ablative: melior pecuniā, better than money.


2212. Fama necat virum.

Compare the English saying, "He that has an ill name, is half hanged."


2213. Fama volat.

You can find this idea invoked in Vergil's Aeneid, 7.


2214. Fama crescit eundo.

[eo-verb: go] The saying is adapted from Vergil's Aeneid, 4: Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum; / mobilitate viget, viresque adquirit eundo.


2215. Ire docetur eundo.

The impersonal passive here, docetur, can be rendered with "you" or "one" in English: You learn to walk by walking.


2216. Terra es, et in terram ibis.

You can see this phrase represented as a "word rebus" here: image.


2217. Ibis redibis numquam peribis.

This is an oracle whose interpretation depends upon the punctuation: "Ibis, redibis, numquam peribis" - or, more ominously: ""Ibis, redibis numquam: peribis." You can read about other variants in this Wikipedia article.


2218. Omnia transibunt! Sic ibimus, ibitis, ibunt.

You can also find the saying in this expanded form: "Sic transit gloria mundi, omnia transibunt, nos ibimus, ibitis, ibunt. "


2219. Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.

The words are from Vergil's Aeneid, 6. It is also the motto of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.


2220. Audentior ibo.

These words are also from Vergil's Aeneid, 9: audentior ibo in casus omnis.


2221. Eamus quo ducit fortuna.

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


2222. Medio tutissimus ibis.

The words are from Ovid's Metamorphoses, 2; Phaethon, unfortunately, does not take this good advice! Note how the adjective tutissimus agrees with the subject of the verb; in English, we would probably use an adverb instead: "go most safely."


2223. Cum audace non eas in via.

The words are from the Biblical book of Sirach, 8.


2224. Per labores itur ad praemia.

The impersonal passive here, itur, can be rendered with "you" or "one" in English: Through effort you reach the prize.


2225. Ite, si itis.

You can find these words in Plautus's Poenulus.


2226. Ite in pace.

You can find the words in several Bible passages.


2227. Ite et videte.

You can find these words in the Gospel of Mark, 6.


2228. Ito bonis avibus.

Here the birds are birds of omen: birds of good omen, bonis avibus, as well as birds of ill omen, bonis avibus.


2229. I, piger, ad formicam.

[formica: ant] The phrase is inspired by the Biblical book of Proverbs, 6: Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias eius et disce sapientiam.


2230. Formica formicae cara.

Compare the English saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."


2231. Vade ad formicam, o piger.

[vado: go, walk, hurry] See the Biblical book of Proverbs, 6: Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias eius et disce sapientiam.


2232. Vade mecum.

This phrase can be used in English to refer to a handbook or manual; see this Wikipedia article.


2233. Quo volunt reges, vadunt leges.

Here the relative pronoun quo is directional: (Eo), quo volunt reges, vadunt leges, "The laws go where the kings want" (for the laws to go).


2234. Qui ambulat in tenebris, nescit quo vadat.

The words are from the Gospel of John, 12.


2235. Vade post me, Satana.

[Satana: Satan] The words are from the Gospel of Matthew, 16.


2236. Vade retro, Satana.

[retro: back, backwards] These words belong to the Catholic ritual of exorcism; for more information, see this Wikipedia article. Compare the words of the Gospel of Mark, 8: Vade retro me, Satana.


2237. Vade in pace.

You can find these words used in various books of the Bible.


2238. Solum bellum gignit pacem.

[gigno: give birth to, produce, beget] Compare the paradoxical sayings about peace and war that you saw earlier: "Paratur pax bello" and "Si vis pacem, para bellum."


2239. Amor amorem gignit, sicut ignis ignem.

You can also find this saying in a shortened form, "Amor amorem gignit" and also "Amor gignit amorem."


2240. Aliud ex alio malum gignitur.

This is another one of those aliud...alio proverbs; in English, we would say: "One evil comes from another."


2241. Capit omnia tellus, quae genuit.

[tellus: earth, ground, land] The noun tellus is feminine, but the relative pronoun here is neuter plural, with omnia as its antecedent.


2242. Non omnis fert omnia tellus.

Here the singular omnis agrees with tellus (omnis tellus, "every land"), while omnia, plural, is the object of the verb.


2243. Mors omnia solvit.

[solvo: release, unbind, set free] This is a legal maxim, but of course it has profound implications for life at large!


2244. Iniuria solvit amorem.

This is one of the sayings collected in Erasmus's Adages, 4.7.79.


2245. Nemo potest dura naturae solvere iura.

The rhyme, dura-iura, reveals the medieval provenance of this saying.


2246. Solvitur ambulando.

Note the use of the gerund in the ablative: "by walking, by means of walking." The impersonal passive here, solvitur, can be rendered with "you" or "one" in English: "you can figure something out." For more about this saying, see the Wikipedia article.


2247. Debito soluto, tranquilla agitur vita.

[tranquillus: calm, quiet, tranquil] Note the ablative absolute: debito soluto, "once your debts have been paid."


2248. Felix qui meruit tranquillam ducere vitam.

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.


2249. Post tempestatem, tranquillum.

[tempestas: time, storm, weather, season] Compare the song of praise in the Book of Tobit, 3: Non enim delectaris in perditionibus nostris: quia post tempestatem tranquillum facis, et post lacrimationem et fletum, exultationem infundis; sit nomen tuum, Deus Israel, benedictum in saecula.


2250. Sapienti non nocetur a paupertate, non a dolore, non ab aliis tempestatibus vitae.

The words are from one of Seneca's letters to Lucilius, 85.


Scala 46 (2251-2300)

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