(click image for a larger view)
2301. Dei plena sunt omnia.
[plenus: full] Note that the adjective plena can take a genitive complement: dei plena.
2302. Stultorum plena sunt omnia.
This observation comes from one of Cicero's letters, Ad Familiares 9.22.
2303. Longa est vita, si plena est.
The words are from one of Seneca's letters, 93.
2304. Sapiens ille plenus est gaudio.
Here is a fuller form of the saying: Sapiens ille plenus est gaudio, hilaris et placidus, inconcussus. Again the source is Seneca, this time Letter 59.
2305. Iovis omnia plena.
[Iuppiter: Jupiter, Zeus] Compare the earlier saying: Dei plena sunt omnia. Here the god is given a name: Jupiter.
2306. Rex Iuppiter omnibus idem.
The words are from Vergil's Aeneid, 10.
2307. Nec summus cunctis Iuppiter ipse placet.
Note the interwoven word order (summus agrees with Iuppiter ipse); the line forms a metrical pentameter.
2308. Ne Iuppiter quidem omnibus placet.
Note how the phrase "ne...quidem" wraps around the phrase it emphasizes: ne Iuppiter quidem, "not even Jupiter."
2309. Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi.
The rhyme, Iovi-bovi, reveals the medieval provenance of this saying.
2310. Procul a Iove, procul a fulgure.
[fulgur: lightning] You can also find the saying in this form: Procul a Iove, procul a fulmine. Jupiter is, of course, the Romans' thunder god.
2311. Feriunt summos fulgura montes.
[mons: mountain] The words are from one of the songs of Horace, 2.10. The idea, of course, is to keep away from the heights, staying down low where it is safe (as also in the previous saying: Procul a Iove).
2312. Mons cum monte non miscetur.
This is one of the sayings collected by Erasmus in his Adagia, 3.3.45. The idea, of course, is that while mountains cannot move, men can - and should!
2313. Maioresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae.
The words are from Vergil's Eclogue, 1.
2314. Feriunt summos fulmina montes.
[fulmen: thunderbolt, lightning] Compare the previous saying: Feriunt summos fulgura montes. Now you have fulmina, rather than fulgura - but the idea is very much the same.
2315. Procul a Iove, procul a fulmine.
See the previous saying: Procul a Iove, procul a fulgure.
2316. Procul ex oculis, procul a corde.
You saw this saying earlier in the form: Procul ab oculis, procul a corde. You can also find this variation: Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente. The heart, cor, is both a metaphorical location for feeling (as in English), but also for thoughts and thinking, like the English word "mind."
2317. Plura oculi quam oculus cernunt.
[cerno: perceive, discern, see] The word plura here is neuter plural, the object of cernunt: plura oculi cernunt quam oculus (cernit).
2318. Audi, cerne, tace, si vis tu vivere pace.
Another rhyming medieval saying: tace-pace.
2319. Terrae, ad quam pergis, cape mores, quos ibi cernis.
Note that terrae goes with mores: cape mores terrae, adopt the habits of the land. Compare the English saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
2320. Cernuntur in agendo virtutes.
Here you have the gerund in the ablative, as part of a prepositional phrase: in agendo, "in action."
2321. Amicus certus in necessitate cernitur.
Compare a saying you saw earlier: Amici probantur rebus adversis.
2322. Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur.
This saying expresses the same idea, but with a different play on words: "certus in re incerta."
2323. Oculus se non videns, aliena cernit.
This proverb fits under the topic of self-knowledge... and how difficult it is to obtain! Compare the Aesop's fable about the two sacks.
2324. Alienis abstine.
[abstineo: keep away from, refrain, avoid] Note that the verb abstineo takes an ablative complement, in the sense of keeping away from something: Alienis abstine, keep away from other people's stuff.
2325. A rebus alienis manus abstine.
Here you see the idea expressed more concretely, with manus as a direct object of abstine: keep your hands (manūs, plural) from other people's things.
2326. Abstine et sustine.
This is a maxim of Stoic philosophy, often attributed to Epictetus.
2327. In dubiis abstine.
[dubius: doubtful, uncertain, dubious] Here you see abstine used without any kind of accusative or ablative complement, meaning just "restrain (yourself), hold back."
2328. In dubio nihil faciendum.
Here the gerundive expresses the idea of a command: nihil faciendum, "do nothing!"
2329. Dubium sapientiae initium.
The great philosopher of doubt was Rene Descartes, and the philosophical method is called "Cartesian doubt" in his honor. You can read more about the method of Cartesian doubt in this article at Wikipedia.
2330. Sapientia omnia operatur.
[operor: labor, work, accomplish] Note that even though operatur looks passive, it is a deponent verb, and as such can take a direct object: omnia. The words are from the Biblical Book of Wisdom 8.
2331. Non operando, peris; res age, tutus eris.
Notice the nice rhyme: peris-eris. Note also the use of the gerund in the ablative: non operando, "by not working, by failing to act."
2332. modus operandi
This Latin phrase is often abbreviated: m.o. For the use of this word in criminal investigations, see this Wikipedia article.
2333. Tarda fugit pigris, velox operantibus hora.
Note the parallel structure: tarda/velox, pigris/operantibus - with "fugit hora" doing double duty.
2334. Dulcis est somnus operanti.
The words are from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, 5.
2335. Dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes.
Note the subjunctive: operemur bonum, "let us do what is good."
2336. Bona bonis contingunt.
[contingo: reach, attain, touch on, happen to] Here you have an adjective being used substantively in two different ways: bona, "good things" (neuter plural) and bonis, "good people" (masculine plural).
2337. Divitiae non semper optimis contingunt.
Another substantive use of an adjective: optimis, "the best people."
2338. Insperata saepe contingunt.
[insperatus: unhoped for, unexpected] Yet another substantive adjective: insperata, unexpected things, un-hoped-for things (neuter plural).
2339. Saepe mora remedium est mali.
[remedium: cure, remedy] Notice how the predicate phrase, remedium mali (a cure for trouble), wraps around the verb.
2340. Maximum remedium irae mora est.
Here you need to use the meaning to figure out which noun phrase the genitive irae belongs to: maximum remedium irae, "the most powerful cure for anger" (compare the phrase remedium mali in the previous saying).
2341. Patientia remedium malorum.
Here you again have a genitive complement with remedium: remedium malorum, "a cure for troubles."
2342. Dolori cuivis remedium est patientia.
Notice how the adjective quivis declines: cui shows that it is dative, while the vis does not change. Notice also that remedium here is taking a dative complement: a cure for any kind of suffering.
2343. Remedium frustra est contra fulmen quaerere.
This is another one of the sayings collected by Publilius Syrus.
2344. Extremis malis, extrema remedia.
[extremus: extreme, farther, outermost] Here again remedia is taking a dative complement: extremis malis.
2345. in extremis
This is a Latin phrase still used in English to mean "at the point of death" (at the last moments of life).
2346. Extrema omnia sunt vitiosa.
[vitiosus: faulty, full of vice, defective] Here extrema is being used substantively, "extremes" as we would say in English.
2347. Omnium rerum mors est extremum.
Again, extremum is being used substantively, as a predicate noun: the extreme end, the limit.
2348. Mors nemini parcit.
[parco: spare, be sparing, show mercy] Note that the verb parcit takes a dative complement: nemini.
2349. Mors nulli parcit honori.
Here the dative complement, nulli honori, is wrapped very elegantly around the verb.
2350. Bonis nocet qui malis parcit.
As often, the antecedent of the relative pronoun is omitted: Bonis nocet (is) qui malis parcit. You can also find this saying with the future tense parcet, for the sake of the rhyme: Bonis nocet qui malis parcet. Such a use of the future is not really a problem; the future can easily convey a sense very similar to the subjunctive, both as a hypothetical and also as an implied command.
Scala 48 (2351-2400)
No comments:
Post a Comment