PLUS

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: PLUS.

E pluribus unum. ~ Note: This Latin motto appears on the seal of the United States of America, as you can see here: image.

Plus potest plurium cura. ~ Note: Here you have a nice play on words with plus, neuter singular, and plurium, genitive plural: The care of more people can accomplish more.

Plures sunt res quam verba. ~ Note: Note that in the previous proverb plus was being used as an adverb (plus vident), while here you have plus being used as an adjective: plures sunt res. The idea here is that language falls short of reality: we can make words and then more words, but there will always be more things than words.

Plus vident oculi quam oculus. ~ Note: You actually have two new words for this saying, which work closely together: the comparative form of multus, plus, which means "more," and the word quam which expresses the idea of comparison, "than" - plus... quam..., "more... than..."

Res plus valent quam verba. ~ Note: The plural verb, valent, gives you a clue here that "res" is plural, as does the plural "verba."

Plus valent oculi quam oculus. ~ Note: Here the distinction is between the plural oculi and the singular oculus: the more eyewitnesses, the better!

Plus valet actum quam scriptum. ~ Note: Compare the sayings you saw earlier that contrasted words and deeds: "Rebus, non verbis," "Factis, non verbis," etc.

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

Fortuna nulli plus quam consilium valet. ~ Note: Note the dative of nullus here: nulli. So the idea is that "For no one (nulli) is luck more powerful than planning."

Plus legibus arma valent. ~ Note: The word "legibus" is in the ablative case, and expresses the comparison in just the same way that "quam leges" could also be used to express the comparison: Weapons have greater power than the laws. Ovid expresses this complaint about the "barbarians" he lives with in his exile (Ex Ponto 4): hic, ubi barbarus hostis / ut fera plus valeant legibus arma facit, "here where my barbarian host, like a wild animal, makes it so that weapons are stronger than laws."

Unus Deus, sed plures amici parandi. ~ Note: This proverb is easier to grasp if you imagine the verbs that Latin has omitted: Unus (est) Deus, sed plures amici parandi (sunt). The gerundive parandi, expressing necessity ("should be obtained") agrees in gender, number and case with the subject: amici.

Nemo dat quod non habet, nec plus quam habet. ~ Note: Sometimes it helps to replace "nec" with "et non" just to see how all the pieces fit together: Nemo dat quod non habet, et non (dat) plus quam habet.

Cedendum pluribus. ~ Note: See the note to the previous proverb about the use of "cedendum" here.

Vincere cor proprium plus est quam vincere mundum. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1442. Here you have a comparison between two infinitive phrases, "vincere cor tuum" and "vincere mundum."

Plus aliis de te, quam tu tibi, credere noli. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings included in the distichs attributed to the so-called "Cato." Here is the complete distich: Cum te aliquis laudat, iudex tuus esse memento; / plus aliis de te quam tu tibi credere noli.

Quisque semet plus amico diligit. ~ Note: The form "semet" is an emphatic version of the reflexive pronoun "se." You can also find it used with the dative form: sibimet.

Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis. ~ Note: Here you see the gerund, faciendum ("making"), in the genitive case, with finis: There is no end of the making of books. (The accusative plures libros is the object of the gerund; just as participles can take direct objects, the same is true of gerunds.)

Qui plus appetit, omnia perdit. ~ Note: You can see this theme illustrated in numerous Aesop's fables, such as the story of the dog and his reflection.

Natura uno ad plura utitur. ~ Note: Note the ablative complement, uno, with the verb utitur: Nature makes use of one thing (uno) for many purposes (ad plura).

Plus est quam poena sine spe miserum vivere. ~ Note: This is another one of the sayings collected by Publilius Syrus. The infinitive phrase, sine spe miserum vivere (accusative subject of the infinitive), is the subject of the sentence.

Plura oculi quam oculus cernunt. ~ Note: The word plura here is neuter plural, the object of cernunt: plura oculi cernunt quam oculus (cernit).

Quo plus habent, eo plus cupiunt. ~ Note: If you listen closely, you can hear this proverb included in the lyrics of the Enya song, "Cursum Perficio."

Plus movent exempla quam verba. ~ Note: This takes the idea of comparison and expressed it in different terms: examples move us more (plus movent) than mere words do (quam verba).

Exemplo plus quam ratione vivimus. ~ Note: It is exactly because of the power of concrete example over abstract reasoning that Aesop's fables and similar wisdom tales are found in cultures all over the world!

Aliena nobis, nostra plus aliis placent. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings attributed to Publilius Syrus.

Plus in mora periculi. ~ Note: Here you see the same idea expressed comparatively: There is more danger in delay (than there is in acting promptly). The word "plus" takes what is called a partitive genitive in Latin: more (of) danger.

Semper iratus plus se posse putat quam possit. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings attributed to Publilius Syrus.

Scire loqui decus est, sed plus est scire tacere. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1193. Note how both infinitive phrases - scire loqui and scire tacere - are functioning as nouns in this saying.

Non qui parum habet, sed qui plus cupit, pauper est. ~ Note: This amplifies on the idea of the previous saying; again, it is a paradoxical definition of poverty not as lack (qui parum habet) but as greed or avarice (qui plus cupit).

Damna fleo rerum, sed plus fleo damna dierum. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 211.

Frustra fit per plura quod potest fieri per pauciora. ~ Note: This is one of the various ways in which the principle of Occam's Razor has been formulated.

Mala lingua plus gladio laedit. ~ Note: Note that mala lingua is in the ablative case, just as the word gladio is; the subject is not expressed. Compare this version in which a subject is expressed: Plus gladio mendax offendit lingua minaci.

Plus valet in dextra munus quam plurima extra. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 911.

Cui commendaverunt multum, plus petent ab eo. ~ Note: You can find these words in the Gospel of Luke, 12.

Melius est enim minus egere quam plus habere. ~ Note: The words are from the Regula of Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Plus a medico quam a morbo periculi. ~ Note: Compare the English word "iatrogenic," referring to illnesses caused by the physician's medical intervention.

Plus servant avari aurum quam se. ~ Note: The previous saying was about being a slave to wealth (divitiis servit) while here the miser is a caretaker - someone who takes better care of his gold than he does of himself!

Nobilitas morum plus ornat, quam genitorum. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 690.

Plures adorant solem orientem quam occidentem. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 3.3.15.

Plus oculis quam ventre devoras. ~ Note: Compare the English saying, "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach."

Omne quod rarum est, plus appetitur. ~ Note: You can find this sentiment expressed in one of Jerome's letters, 146.

Dimidium plus toto. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 1.9.95.

Beneficia plura recipit, qui scit reddere. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Publilius Syrus.

Verus amator erit, qui me plus quam mea quaerit. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1435.

Plus prodest omen felix, quam nobile nomen. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 907. Here the nomen and the omen are not considered in parallel, but rather in opposition to one another, with the "omen felix" outweighing the "nobile nomen."

Plus probo thesaurum docti, quam divitis aurum. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 906: Plus probo thesaurum docti, quam divitis aurum: / est opibus melior, virtutis gratia restat; / moribus utilior, et cunctis gaudia praestat.

Quanto plus bibunt, tanto magis sitiunt. ~ Note: This was a paradoxical belief that the Romans associated with the Parthians, so you can also find the saying in this form: Parthi quo plus bibunt eo plus sitiunt. You can see the correlative use of quanto...tanto here (like qualis...talis or quot...tot); the ablatives express "how much" more.

Parthi quo plus bibunt, eo plus sitiunt. ~ Note: This is another way of expressing the same paradox as in the previous saying, using "quo plus" to express the comparison, rather than "tanto plus." Compare the saying in the Adagia of Erasmus, 4.10.21: Parthi quo plus biberint.

Quanto plus biberint, tanto plus sitient Parthi. ~ Note: In addition to being a historical foe of Rome (Wikipedia), the Parthians were a "paradoxical" people in Roman culture, as you can see in this description from Pliny's Natural History, 14. They were also famous for their proverbial "parting shot," firing arrows when they were retreating. This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A172.

Sed tacitus pasci si posset corvus, haberet plus dapis. ~ Note: Compare the saying in the Adagia of Erasmus, 4.1.94: Si corvus possit tacitus pasci.

Plures necat gula quam gladius. ~ Note: This saying benefits from the wonderful word play between gula and gladius - they sound somewhat ailke, but the proverb warns us that the gula is far more deadly than the gladius.

Gula plus occidit quam bellum. ~ Note: Note the parallel structure: Gula plus occidit quam bellum (occidit).

Cum cattis plures venans capit undique mures. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 182.

Res satis est nota: foetent plus stercora mota. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1143.

Dives marcescit quanto plus copia crescit. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 262.

Plus Federicus uno oculo vidit quam ceteri principes duobus. ~ Note: This was presumably a saying originally associated with "Frederick the One-Eyed," Duke of Swabia in the 12th century. This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, A152, and he comments: de hominibus prudentissimis dicitur.

Pluris est oculatus testis unus quam auriti decem. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings Erasmus included in his Adagia, 2.6.54.

Semper egenus eris, si semper plus tibi quaeris. ~ Note: Semper egenus eris, si semper plus tibi quaeris: / cum contentus eris, tunc dives efficieris.

De te alii narrent: si taceas, plus tibi laudis erit. ~ Note: De te alii narrent: proprio sordescit in ore / gloria; si taceas, plus tibi laudis erit. (Verinus)

Qui plus expendit quam lucri summa rependit non admiretur, si paupertate gravetur. ~ Note: This is one of the sayings collected by Wegeler, 1055.

Qui plus expendit quam rerum copia tendit non admiretur, si paupertate gravetur. ~ Note: Qui plus expendit quam rerum copia tendit / non admiretur, si paupertate gravetur.