Via antiqua via est tuta

In English: The old way is the safe way.

This is a follow-up on yesterday's proverb, about the "well-worn" way. Today's proverb is about the antiqua via, the old or ancient way. The idea once again is that if things are part of a tradition, an ancient tradition, then they are "tried and true," a safe way to follow.

This notion of reverence for antiquity and mistrust of "the new" was a fundamental aspect of Roman culture. This is made quite clear by the Latin word novus, which means "new" but also "strange, weird, unusual."

It's also worth pondering the Latin word antiquus and its etymology in Latin. The root of this word is ant- meaning "before, in front of." There is a similar Latin adjective, anticus, which means "front, in the front" (so the front door of your house would be the ianua antica).

As often, the worlds of space and time are metaphorically superimposed on each other, and entwined with other values. In English we are used to the idea that something in "front" has a higher value than something behind or in the back. The best students go to the front of the class, the winner of a race is out in front of the competition, etc.

You need to keep in mind, then, that in Latin something "ancient," antiquus, is something out in the front. It has happened "before." In what is admittedly an odd reversal for our way of imagining time in English, Roman antiquity stretches out in front of us, not behind. In Latin, you can see what has happened before, while the future cannot be seen.

So, looking forward to antiquity, here is today's proverb read out loud:

13. Via antiqua via est tuta.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Via trita via tuta

In English: The well-worn way is the safe way.

In yesterday's proverb, we learned that innocence is one form of safe conduct. Today's proverb recommends another strategy for safety and security: follow the well-worn path.

In literal terms, this makes good sense. If you follow a path that many others have traveled, you can be confident that you will reach your destination. By going along a way that many others are traveling, you are more likely to find food and supplies along the way, bridges where you need to cross a river, and so on.

In metaphorical terms, by doing things the "tried and true" way, you can be confident about the outcome you will achieve. For example, for Thanksgiving last week, you probably relied on a traditional family recipe to end up with the best stuffing or the best cranberry relish. There are different ways to do things, but you can gain a real sense of security by doing something the traditional way.

At the same time, there is a strong impulse in our culture to reject traditional ways, to boldly go where no one has gone before, striking out on our own, taking risks, experimenting. Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken by is a poem that famously poses the choice between the well-traveled way and the road less traveled by.

You can see our preference for the road less traveled by in the fate of Latin tritus in the English language. The Latin word is a passive participle of the verb, terere, "to wear, wear down, rub," so tritus means "worn." Yet over time, the English word "trite" has taken on negative connotations, meaning something that has been "worn out," stripped of its meaning, emptied of importance. This meaning is also found in Latin, but in English, the word "trite" has come to have strictly negative connotations, without any neutral meaning, much less any positive connotations.

As someone who is very interested in traditional stories and sayings, I'm sad that our prejudice against the "trite" has contributed to the demise of so much of our folk tradition. Every time I publish a post about a Latin proverb in my blog, I am glad to be using a very modern "way" to try to keep some of the old ways alive in people's minds.

So, in praise of the "tried and true," here is today's proverb read out loud:

12. Via trita via tuta.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio. You can also hear this saying read aloud (in part: via trita) at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyrazow obcych i zwrotw obcojezycznych (weblink).

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Innocentia ubique tuta

In English: Innocence is safe everywhere.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, which was also about innocentia. Today's proverb tells us that the person who is innocent is safe everywhere; in other words, someone who has done no wrong has nothing to fear. (The Latin word in-nocens, "innocent," means literally "not-harming," someone who does no harm.)

You can see a great illustration of this motto in Otto Vaenius's Q. Horatii Flacci Emblemata, published in 1612. This book is a set of emblematic images with mottoes and commentaries based on phrases from the poetry of the Roman poet Horace. The book provides a brief and pithy Latin motto for each emblematic image, and then the poem by Horace which inspired the motto. This particular motto is based on the famous poem which begins Integer vitae, scelerisque purus..., "Living a blameless life, unblemished by crime..." The poem is cited in full in Vaenius's book, along with translations into various European languages (not including English, however).

In the image for this particular motto, you can see a man walking unafraid, even though he is challenged by some seriously scary-looking creatures, including a horned dragon with a sharp-tipped tongue.

Even though he faces terrible dangers, the man rejects a pile of weapons which lies off to the side. With this gesture, he shows that he refuses to put on the suit of armor or take up the weapons. Why? Because as an innocent man he has no need of weapons, no need to be on the defensive, brandishing weapons in a show of force. (Use the nifty zoom tool at the website to get a close-up look if you want!)

The man himself looks quite saintly and completely tranquil in the face of these dangers. He is accompanied by a sheep which is clearly under his care, suggesting the image of the "good shepherd," a man who is not only safe but provides safety for his the flock in his charge.

If you have never explored the world of emblem books, they are a wonderful way to learn about Renaissance and early modern Latin. You can see several emblem books at the website entitled Emblem Project Utrecht: Dutch Love Emblems of the Seventeenth Century. It's one of my favorite Latin resources online - if you haven't ever taken a look at an emblem book, this is a great way to get started!

Meanwhile, here is today's proverb read out loud:

14. Innocentia ubique tuta.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Innocentia eloquentia

In English: Innocence is eloquence.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, eloquentia sagitta. Today's proverb is also about "eloquence" but it makes a rather different point: innocence speaks for itself, hence innocence is eloquence. In an ideal world, an innocent person would not need speak out, or hire lawyers to speak out on his behalf in a courtroom. Instead, his innocence would convey the message in and of itself.

This Latin saying is cited in a fascinating and extremely funny document from the ancient world, mid-second century: Apuleius's defense, or Apologia pro se de magia, when he was charged with witchcraft. From start to finish (here's an appropriately humorous summary of the whole thing!), Apuleius makes a mockery of his accusers, and here you can see him twisting the words of this proverb around to his benefit - since Apuleius was probably the most eloquent man of his day, he claimed that eloquence as proof of his innocence!

Sane quidem, si uerum est quod Statium Caecilium in suis poematibus scripsisse dicunt, innocentiam eloquentiam esse, ego uero profiteor ista ratione ac praefero me nemini omnium de eloquentia concessurum. Quis enim me hoc quidem pacto eloquentior uiuat, quippe qui nihil unquam cogitaui quod eloqui non auderem?

Clearly indeed, if it is true what they say Statius Caecilius wrote in his poems, that innocence is eloquence, by this line of reasoning I can claim and assert that I yield to no one in the world when it comes to eloquence. For who among the living could be in this respect more eloquent than I am - I, indeed, who have never thought anything which I did not dare to speak openly?

Apuleius is best known for his amazing and delightful novel, Metamorphoses, the adventures of a man who was turned into a donkey by accident when he was testing out some magic spells without being quite sure what he was doing. His life as a donkey is not easy, but he finally manages to eat some roses, which brings him back to his human state. It's one of the most wonderful works to have survived from the ancient world - if you have not read it, then... read it! Now! Here is an English translation online: The Golden Asse (Adlington's translation, 1566).

As for the Apologia, there is an outstanding Latin-English edition online, with notes and commentary! In addition to the text, you will also find some accompanying essays, such as "Apuleius the Magician" and "Magic in the Daily Life of Roman North Africa in the Time of Apuleius."

Meanwhile, here is today's proverb read out loud, in case you ever need to make a self-defense in Latin:

15. Innocentia eloquentia.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Eloquentia sagitta

In English: Eloquence is an arrow.

After writing about the wounds of love and Cupid's arrows in yesterday's proverb, I thought it would be nice to follow up with a motto that is also based on the metaphor of the "arrow," although in a quite different context! Today's saying is the motto of the Bland family, and in the context of a family motto it can also be translated as "Eloquence is my arrow" or "Eloquence is our arrow." (Latin, unlike English, is very sparing in its use of possessive pronouns and adjectives, so you can freely add them to your English translations of Latin, if the context suggests the use of a possessive pronoun or adjective in English.)

The idea here, of course, is that instead of using weapons, such as arrows, members of the Bland family are able to use the power of speech to accomplish their goals and overcome any opposition that they face. In a sense, it's something like the English saying "the pen is mightier than the sword." If you are interested in the origins of this particular saying, there is a very interesting discussion at wikipedia.

Both of these phrases - "eloquence is my arrow" and "the pen is mightier than the sword" - make a similar point, that the power of language is actually a kind of weapon, a weapon that is preferable to or even stronger than conventional weapons.

In addition to the argument of the sayings, however, there are specific metaphorical associations at work here. The pen and the sword can be associated with one another because a pen is like a sword: it is shaped like a sword, it is wielded in the hand like a sword, etc. What, then, about eloquence and the arrow? In just what way can we think of eloquence as being like an arrow?

This brings us back to one of the most ancient metaphors in the western tradition: the famous "winged words" of the Greek poet Homer, the "epea (words) pteroenta (winged)." (And yes, that is the same "ptero" as in our English word "pterodactyl," referring to the dinosaur who had wings, "pter," for fingers, "dactyl"). Homer realized that spoken words are not static things, some kind of inert physical object like written words on a page. Instead, spoken words, especially well-spoken words, are winged things. They fly out from the mouth towards a targeted destination. Once set in motion, the words are swift in flight and cannot be called back. If you want to think of such words metaphorically as weapons, they would, indeed, be arrows.

It makes metaphorical sense, then, for the pen to be mightier than the sword, and also for words to be arrows, the idea clearly expressed in today's proverb.

So, winging its way toward you with digital sound, here is today's proverb read out loud:

16. Eloquentia sagitta.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Nemo ex amoris vulnere sanus abit

In English: No one walks away unscathed from the wound of love.

I thought this proverb would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about health and wholeness, this time transferred from the sphere of medicine to the sphere of lovesickness instead. Love has its wounds, and as this proverb tells us, even if you recover from the wound you are never quite sanus, "healthy" (or "sane"!) again afterwards.

This saying is adapted from the Roman poet Propertius, whose elegies chronicle the story of his love for a certain "Cynthia" (although it is not clear if Cynthia is a real person or a product of Propertius's poetic imagination). The poems are in couplets, with a dactylic hexamter line followed by a pentameter: nec quisquam ex illo vulnere sanus abit, "And no one from that wound walks away unscathed." If you mark the line for meter, it would look something like this: nec quis~qu(am) ex il~lo = vulnere ~ sanus a~bit.

Here's the larger context of the poem, where Propertius is exploring the implications of the depiction of the Roman "Cupid" as a winged boy wielding arrows:

et merito hamatis manus est armata sagittis,
et pharetra ex umero Cnosia utroque iacet:
ante ferit quoniam, tuti quam cernimus hostem,
nec quisquam ex illo vulnere sanus abit.
in me tela manent, manet et puerilis imago:
sed certe pennas perdidit ille suas;
evolat heu nostro quoniam de pectore nusquam,
assiduusque meo sanguine bella gerit.

and rightfully his hand is armed with barbed arrows, and a Cretan quiver lies across his two shoulders, because he wounds us before we can safely see our enemy, and no one walks away unscathed from that wound. The barbs remain in me, as does the boy's image: but clearly he has lost his wings since, alas, he never flies out of my heart and ceaselessly wages war in my blood.

In other words: OUCH. Love is a war, and lovers are its walking wounded. That's why another Roman poet, Ovid, had to write a book of "Remedies for Love," Remedia Amoris, hoping to offer a cure for lovesickness and its pangs.

Meanwhile, here is today's proverb read out loud:

2243. Nemo ex amoris vulnere sanus abit.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Medicus curat, natura sanat

In English: A doctor administers the cure; nature does the healing.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's "medical" proverb. Today's proverb is based on a simple parallel structure: on the one hand there is the medicus, the medical doctor, who administers the cure and takes care of the patient, curat, but it is natura, nature, who actually makes the patient healthy, sanat.

A fuller form of this proverb is medicus curat, natura sanat morbos, where the verbs curat and sanat are given an explicit object: morbos, sicknesses.

There are some good etymological items to notice in these two Latin verbs. The Latin verb curare means to take care of, in the sense of being concerned for something. This is indeed where we get the English word "cure," which is generally used in a medical context (although "manicure" and "pedicure" are admittedly not medical procedures!), but the Latin word has a range of meaning that extends far beyond the medical context. You can get a sense of the broader meaning of the Latin cura, if you look at some other English words derived from this same root, such as the "curator" who takes care of things. Even the English word "curious" is derived from this root, because a curious person is concerned with things - especially things that other people might not pay attention to at all. The English word "secure" is a person who has no cares or concerns, from the Latin se-curus, without care.

The other Latin verb in today's proverb, sanare, means "to make whole, make healthy," from the adjectival root sanus, meaning "healthy" and also "sane, rational." You can see both meanings of the san- root at work in English derivatives. When people go to a "sanatorium," they are hoping to get well and healthy (and hopefully everything is appropriate "sanitized" at the sanatorium), but someone who is "insane" is suffering specifically from mental illness.

So, hoping that everyone is feeling both sane and secure, here is today's proverb read out loud:

1087. Medicus curat, natura sanat.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Optima medicina temperantia est.

In English: Moderation is the best medicine.

I thought this might be a good proverb to post on this day famed for over-eating. So, if you have not already had seconds on the pumpkin pie yet, you could use this proverb as a warning to put down that fork!

This proverb comes early on in my Latin Via Proverbs book given that the grammar is staggeringly simple. There is no verb except for the simple est, "is," with only first declension noun phrases: optima medicina, "the best medicine," and temperantia, "moderation." This is the kind of proverb that Latin students can learn on their very first day of Latin class.

This proverb is also representative of a huge body of Latin proverbs praising the middle way, the "golden mean," aurea mediocritas in Latin, not too much and not too little. The key word here is temperantia, "moderation," which is derived from the Latin word tempus, which means "time," but which also refers to the right time, the appropriate time, etc. You can think about the musical term "tempo," also derived from Latin tempus, via Italian. As anyone who plays music knows, the right tempo is about going not too fast, but not too slow.

So, if you want to translate this Latin proverb with English cognates you could say "the optimum medicine is tempo," not too fast, and not too slow.

And here is today's proverb read out loud:

20. Optima medicina temperantia est.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Calvior cucurbita

In English: Balder than a pumpkin.

I thought a saying about a pumpkin would be an appropriate choice as the Thanksgiving feast day is upon us, with attendant pumpkin pie.

A pumpkin is, indeed, remarkably bald. In English, the standard comparison for baldness seems to be "bald as a coot," but I don't really like that comparison as much: according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, coots have a prominent bald patch, but since I've never seen a coot, much less a coot up close, the comparison doesn't work for me (although there is a nice picture of a coot here, showing the bald patch).

The Latin phrase is much more effective, I think - balder than a pumpkin: that must be very bald indeed! The Roman author Apuleius used the phrase in his Metamorphoses in the part devoted to the story of Cupid and Psyche, referring to an old man who was balder than a pumpkin.

The Latin word calvus, meaning "bald," is itself a very interesting word, which gives us the English "Calvary." Yes, for all of you who as children got the words "Cavalry" and "cavalry" mixed up, here's the etymological explanation that could have saved you.

The English word "cavalry" derives ultimately from the Latin caballus, "horse," with the -b- changing to a -v- over time. So the cavalry (*cabal-ry*) is composed of soldiers on caballi, on horses.

The English word "Calvary" derives from the Latin calvaria, "skull," which is in turn derived from calvus, "bald." Indeed, if there is anything balder than a pumpkin, it would indeed be a human skull! So, the place where Jesus was crucified is called Calvaria in the Latin translation of the Bible, imitating the Aramaic name, Golgotha, which meant "skull." In English, we took over the word "Calvary," but I would guess that most people do not realize that this is from the Latin word for "skull," itself based on the word for "bald," calvus. Once you learn this, it's easy to keep straight the English words "cavalry" and Calvary. If you are interested in learning more about the legends associated with the Calvary "skull," you can find a good discussion at the Catholic Encyclopedia online, including the fascinating legend that Golgotha was so named because the skull of Adam had been deposited there.

Meanwhile, with happy pumpkin thoughts for Thanksgiving, here is today's proverb read out loud:

608. Calvior cucurbita.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Excelsior!

In English: Higher!

This is a one-word saying that serves as the motto of the state of New York (you can read more about state mottoes in Latin at the Bestiaria Latina blog). The motto is featured prominently in the New York state flag and the New York state seal.

It was the phrase "Excelsior" on the New York state seal which inspired a poem entitled "Excelsior!" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is a romantic, mystical poem about a young man climbing the Alps, bearing a banner "with the strange device, Excelsior!" He sees the happy houses of the village, but he continues climbing. An old man warns him of the dangers, but he keeps climbing. A beautiful maiden begs him to stay with her, but he keeps climbing. A peasant tells him to watch out for avalanches, and he keeps climbing, ever higher. Then the next day he was found in the snow, grasping the banner in his frozen hand:

There in the twilight cold and gray,
Lifeless, but beautiful he lay,
And from the sky, serene and far,
A voice fell, like a falling star,
Excelsior!

"Excelsior" is also the title of a poem by Walt Whitman in his book Leaves of Grass. It is a a very Walt-Whitmanesque poem, as you can see from this excerpt:

Who has gone farthest? For lo! have not I gone farther?
And who has been just? For I would be the most just person of the earth;
And who most cautious? For I would be more cautious;
And who has been happiest? O I think it is I! I think no one was ever happier than I;
And who has lavish’d all? For I lavish constantly the best I have;
And who has been firmest? For I would be firmer;
And who proudest? For I think I have reason to be the proudest son alive—for I am the son of the brawny and tall-topt city;
And who has been bold and true? For I would be the boldest and truest being of the universe; [...]

Yet my reason for choosing Excelsior as today's saying is not because of Longfellow or Whitman, but because of the absolutely delightful film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. I watched this film for the first time this week, and found it to be absolutely enchanting. For those of you who have not seen the film, it is about a village in Wales which faces an unexpected crisis: their "mountain" is in danger of being classified as a hill, unless they can make it a little bit higher. Excelsior! It's a wonderful movie, and at the very end there is a ghostly voice that says "Higher!" which immediately made me think of the Latin saying Excelsior.

So, in honor of both New York and Wales, here is today's proverb read out loud:

607. Excelsior.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Hiatus brevis

I'm out of town for a few days and not easily able to update my audio blogs, but I'll be back online soon. Meanwhile, the other Bestiaria Latina blogs are going strong; you can see a round-up of the latest posts at Bestiaria Latina Omnia: News.

Animum debes mutare, non caelum

In English: You should change your state of mind, not the sky.

In other words, a change of scenery will not necessarily be able to induce a change of feeling. If you have troubles, just "getting away" on vacation, say, will not necessarily let you get away from those troubles. The saying is adapted from the Roman poet Horace, in his Epistle 1.11: caelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt, "those who run across the sea change their sky but not their state of mind."

This is very true advice and it also features the delightful metaphor of "changing the sky" as a metaphor for travel. I'm about to embark on a little trip this weekend, so I will be changing sky myself for a few days - luckily I'm not trying to accomplish a change of mood in the process. Just doing some pre-Thanksgiving family visiting!

There's a delightful little fable by the medieval preacher Odo of Cheriton which cites this bit of advice as the moral to the story. You can read the Latin online at aesopica.net:

A stork once got into an argument with his wife and he pecked out her eye with his beak. The stork was ashamed that he had done her such a great injury, so he flew off into another land. The crow ran into him and asked the reason for his journey. The stork said that he had pecked out his wife's eye with his beak. The crow replied: "Don't you still have the same beak?" The stork said yes. The crow then said: "So why are you running away, since, wherever you go, you carry your beak with you?" This is true also for those who commit many sins and who run away into another land or into a monastery. They nevertheless always carry with them their beak, their wickedness, their means of sinning, the Devil contained inside them. They change the sky, not their state of mind. [...]

As far as I know, this story of the stork and his wife is found only here in Odo; I have not seen it in any other medieval fable collection.

So, thinking about the wise words of that crow, here is today's proverb read out loud:

1552. Animum debes mutare, non caelum.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio. You can also hear the Horatian version of this saying, coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).

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Nascimur uno modo, multis morimur.

In English: We are born one way, we die in many (ways).

Since I have posted some sayings from Latin epitaphs over the past couple of days, I thought I would post this saying, also about death, which also happens to be one of my favorite Latin proverbs. Proverbs often work by a parallel structure and strongly contrasting meaning, which is just how today's proverb works: uno, on the one hand, the way of birth, and multis on the other hand, the ways of death.

The saying comes from one of the Controversiae of the rhetorician known as Seneca the Elder (NOT to be confused with his son, the philosopher Seneca), and he goes on to provide a list of the ways of death: laqueus, gladius, praeceps locus, venenum, naufragium, mille aliae mortes insidiantur huic miserrimae animae, "the noose, the sword, a steep place, poison, shipwreck, a thousand other deaths lie in way for the most wretched soul."

Seneca's list makes me think of that haunting song by Leonard Cohen which also explores the many ways of death:

And who by fire,
who by water,
who in the sunshine,
who in the night time,
who by high ordeal,
who by common trial,
who in your merry merry month of may,
who by very slow decay
and who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip,
who by barbiturate,
who in these realms of love,
who by something blunt,
and who by avalanche,
who by powder,
who for his greed,
who for his hunger,
and who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent,
who by accident,
who in solitude,
who in this mirror,
who by his lady's command,
who by his own hand,
who in mortal chains,
who in power,
and who shall I say is calling?

Cohen's song seems, in turn, to have been inspired by the Unetaneh Tokef, a portion of the Yom Kippur service, the liturgy for the Jewish Day of Atonement. Here is an excerpt:

On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed,
And on Yom Kippur it is sealed.
How many shall pass away and how many shall be born,
Who shall live and who shall die,
Who shall reach the end of his days and who shall not,
Who shall perish by water and who by fire,
Who by sword and who by wild beast,
Who by famine and who by thirst,
Who by earthquake and who by plague,
Who by strangulation and who by stoning...

Many ways indeed, multi modi, just as today's proverb suggests, without spelling it out in grisly detail.

So here is today's proverb read out loud, and here is a YouTube video of the Leonard Cohen song, too!



3039. Nascimur uno modo, multis morimur.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

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Stat lapis et nomen tantum, vestigia nulla

In English: There stands only a stone and a name, no traces at all.

Since yesterday's Latin saying came from a tombstone, I thought that would be a good reason for today's proverb, which also comes from a Roman tombstone. This saying provides a very sad commentary on the effort of putting up a tombstone, however, reminding us that there is only a stone and a name, but no trace at all of the person.

The Latin word vestigium is precisely where we get our English word "vestige." That English word suits the context of this saying quite well. After a person is dead and gone, there is no longer any vestige of that person here among the living.

Yet it is also worth keeping in mind the literal, physical meaning of the Latin word vestigium, which is "footprint." To me, that makes the loss signaled by the epitaph even more touching. The person is gone, so they are not walking the world together with us - but there is not even a footprint left behind, not even a trace of their passage through this life left to remind us of just who that person was. The person has passed on and even the footprints they could have left behind have also been wiped away in time.

It's an eerie feeling to walk through a cemetery and to see the stones and the names, but no other traces of the human lives memorialized there. There's a cemetery quite near where I live, and it is a strange feeling to drive by it every day on my way home. It's a memento mori, another very profound Latin phrase, which means: "remember (that you are going) to die." Yet there is also something salutary about that thought. Unlike the folks who have passed on, memorialized by unmoving stones in the ground, leaving not so much as a footprint, you are still walking the path of life, one footstep at a time. So: enjoy those footsteps and the path your are walking upon!

Here is today's proverb read out loud:

1180. Stat lapis et nomen tantum, vestigia nulla.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Poma aut matura cadunt aut immatura leguntur

In English: Fruits either fall when they are ripe or are gathered before they're ripe.

I thought this would be a good proverb to add to the recent series of proverbs that invoked metaphors from nature in order to describe the transitoriness of human life. This proverb is more like a riddle, though, because it does not state the comparison outright, as in a typical simile: "such and such is like such and such..." With this proverb, you have to do a bit of thinking on your own.

In fact, if you are not used to "proverbial tihnking" this proverb may seem a little weird. It seems to say something entirely obvious: so the ripe fruits fall down and if the fruit isn't ripe, it has to be plucked from the tree. And your point is...?

Well, this proverb gets it point from the context in which it is used. And where does this Latin proverb come from? It is from the inscription on a tomb. So that sets up the comparison: just as the fruits of nature are born, grow into maturity, and are then gone in their season, so too with human life. When someone's life is ripe or mature, they are ready to fall from the tree of life. Yet sometimes people die young, immature, like the fruit described in the proverb. These fruits too are gathered up, before they are ready to fall. Why people have to die young is a mystery, often a sad or even tragic one. This proverb gives us a natural comparison so that we can try to "see" what is happening, and by means of that acquire some insight.

There is a similar metaphor at work in a simile that we are all familiar with already: Death as the "Grim Reaper," harvesting human souls with a scythe.

The Latin word pomum was used to refer to fruits of all kinds, and we can see the root in the English word "pomegranate" which is from the Latin pomum granatum, the "seeded fruit," a very fair description of the a pomegranate! And yes, that is where the word "grenade" comes from. Apparently grenades have been around since the 16th century (!), when soldiers started using small hand-sized fragmenting bombs that reminded people of pomegranates.

From Latin pomum we also get the English word "pommel" (familiar to anybody who has been horseback riding!) via the Latin pomellum, "little fruit." The English "pommel" refers to the rounded knob on a saddle or on a sword. And yes, when someone is "pommeled" it means they are being beaten with a pommel (not with a little piece of fruit!).

Meanwhile, here is today's proverb read out loud:

3037. Poma aut matura cadunt aut immatura leguntur.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Tempus it et tamquam mobilis aura volat

In English: Time goes and like a moving breeze it flies.

This is another proverb about the transitoriness of things, in this case, how time itself is transitory, on the move, like the breeze. In English we use the phrase "time flies" to indicate how swiftly time moves by, as in the phrase "time flies when you're having fun." What this proverb emphasizes is instead that time is always on the move, tempus it, "time goes." Time simply cannot stand still; tempus volat, "time flies," just as the breeze does as it blows.

The Latin word aura means "breeze," but it was also extended to mean heat, sound, smell or other phenomena that were perceptible to the senses, being invisibly conveyed by the movement of the air. Thus the aura solis, the "sun's breeze" or the "sun's aura," was something hot. When people talk about an "aura" in English, they usually have in mind this kind of invisible emanation that radiates out from a person, as heat radiates from the sun.

For Latin students, there are three Latin word roots that look suspiciously like "aura" and which are easy to mix up. Be careful not to confuse these words!

aura: "breeze," the word used in today's proverb (this Latin word is actually borrowed from Greek)

aurum: "gold," as in the chemical symbol for gold Au

auris: "ear," as in the English word "aural," something you hear with your ear

So, here is an aural recitation of today's proverb about the "aura" of time!

2237. Tempus it et tamquam mobilis aura volat.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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In pratis ut flos, sic perit omnis honos

In English: As a flower in the fields, thus public esteem passes away.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about how glory passes by like a puff of wind. Today's proverb tells us that Latin honos, "honor, esteem, achievement, etc." withers away like a flower in the fields.

The power of metaphors from the world of nature is that they seem to present an incontrovertible logic: of course flowers wither! Who would be foolish enough to think a flower is something that will last? Well, so too with worldly achievement: if you have seen a flower wither and die, then you should know that worldly achievement will do the same.

The verb that is used here to describe what happens to both flowers and to worldly glory is perire, which is a compound of the verb ire, "to go." Literally it means "to go all the way to the end" (as indicated by the verbal prefix per-). Metaphorically this comes to mean "to reach the end, to pass away, to vanish, to die." As you might have guessed, this Latin word is the origin of our English word "perish."

Notice that the proverb rhymes: flos... honos (the Latin word honos is also sometimes spelled honor, and you may be more familiar with it in this form). Rhyme and near-rhyme is commonly found in Latin proverbs, especially in medieval proverbs, yet it is almost impossible to convey that in the English translation. The rhyme in today's proverb is a fundamental part of how the proverb punctuates its meaning, but it's hard to capture that in English. Perhaps we could translate: "As flowers wither in the green, so perishes all great esteem," or something like that. Any ideas? If you can think of a nice rhyming translation, let me know!

Meanwhile, here is today's proverb read out loud:

2240. In pratis ut flos, sic perit omnis honos.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Ut flatus venti, sic transit gloria mundi

In English: Like a puff of wind, so passes the glory of the world.

This is a follow-up on yesterday's proverb. This variant expresses the same idea, and adds a metaphorical comparison to go with it. How does the glory of the world pass by? It passes by like a puff of wind.

Proverbs are often highly metaphorical, making them little poems in miniature. When this proverb compares the glory of the world to a puff of wind, it reinforces the notion that this glory is something transitory. Indeed, the wind is the most pure representation of all that is transitory. Unless the wind is moving, it is not wind! The glory of the world, if it is like wind, cannot help but move on through, passing by, gone just as quickly as it came.

More specifically, the proverb refers to "flatus venti," a puff of wind. The Latin word flatus is a verbal noun, formed from the verb flare, "to blow." As you can see, it is also the root of the English word "flatulence." That's not a bad word to keep in mind here, given the very cynical disregard in which the proverb holds the so-called "glory of the world."

There is a similar variant form of this proverb: Ut stuppae flamma, sic transit gloria mundi, "Like the flame of flax, thus passes the glory of the world." A substance like flax or hemp bursts quickly into flame, and just as quickly goes out. Like a puff of wind, it is a highly suggestive metaphorical expression for the transitory "glory of the world." If you read yesterday's post, you know that the symbol of flax set aflame is part of the Catholic ritual for the installation of a new pope, as he is reminded, three times in a row, that the glory of the world is fleeting.

You're not likely to see any flaming flax any time soon, but there might be a breeze blowing outside right now. So, think about that as you listen to today's proverb read out loud:

2235. Ut flatus venti, sic transit gloria mundi.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Sic transit gloria mundi

In English: Thus passes the glory of the world.

This is an enormously famous proverb, and I decided to post it today in honor of the extraordinary rapidity with which Donald Rumsfeld has departed from our political midst. Here today, gone tomorrow. Or rather: gone today!

Although the ancient Romans certainly had a sense of the transitoriness of things, this phrase belongs to the tradition of Christian Latin, rather than to the classical Roman tradition. The phrase actually forms part of the Catholic ritual for the installation of a new pope: "Pater sancte! Sic transit gloria mundi," "Holy Father! Thus passes the glory of the world." The phrase is repeated three times as a bundle of flax is set afire and of course bursts into a brief and sudden flame. I wonder if they will say something to this effect as our new Secretary of Defense is sworn into office!

As for the origins of the phrase, a very similar sentiment is expressed in the highly influential 15th-century treatise by Thomas a Kempis, "On the Imitation of Christ." In section 1.3.6, he remarks, "O quam cito transit gloria mundi," "Oh how quickly passes the glory of the world."

This remark is the culmination of a series of very pointed observations about the vanity of learning and academic pursuits. As Thomas insists:

Tell me, where now are all those masters and teachers, whom thou knewest well, whilst they were yet with you, and flourished in learning? Their stalls are now filled by others, who perhaps never have one thought concerning them. Whilst they lived they seemed to be somewhat, but now no one speaks of them. Oh how quickly passeth the glory of the world away!

I think anyone who has walked through the dusty halls of a library warehouse knows this feeling: rows and rows filled with books and more books written by authors whose names are long forgotten. Publish or perish? Well, those who publish do perish in the end, too - along with everyone else!

So here is today's proverb read out loud - and remember that in the very moment as you are listening to these words, the world and its glories are in transit, as ever:

2233. Sic transit gloria mundi.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio. You can also hear this saying read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).

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Cum vinum intrat, exit sapientia

In English: When wine enters, wisdom exits.

I wanted to do today's proverb because I heard someone on the radio say something just like this (in English, of course - not in Latin) earlier today, given that we have on our state ballot a proposition regarding the sale of liquor in liquor stores on election days!

Here is the text of that proposition:

Package store sales of these beverages are prohibited on election days while the polls are open. This measure would remove the ban on sales on election days. If this measure passes, package stores could sell alcoholic beverages on election days.

So yes, as voters walked into the voting booth today in Oklahoma, they were given the opportunity to express their views about selling liquor on election day.

Once upon a time, the idea was to protect people from the danger of drunken voters. You know, I worry a lot about UNINFORMED voters, and liquor is not necessarily the most pernicious cause of ignorance on voting day, despite what the Latin proverb tells us.

What's ironic, of course, is that bars are still selling liquor on election day. And you can get all the beer you want at the local 7-11 and all the other convenience stores; it's just the package stores (liquor stores) that we are being protected from on election day. So you can go to a bar on election day, drink your fill, and then vote: the wine goes in, the wisdom goes out, but your ballot still gets counted. There's no breathalyzer there at the voting booth.

I don't know what it's like in the state where you live, but Oklahoma is still littered with all kinds of wacky laws regarding liquor. For example, anyone under the age of 21 is barred, absolutely barred, from entering a liquor store. As a result, people have to leave their children unattended in the car outside. There's a liquor store in Oklahoma City where the owner, or his wife, will sit in the car with the kids so that their parents can shop in the store at leisure.

So, given the state proposition in Oklahoma, I'd say this proverb can be taken two different ways. On the one hand, there is the simple, literal way to take it: when people get drunk, they sure can get foolish! But I'd also like to suggest that it can be taken more broadly: when questions about alcohol end up on the political agenda, all kinds of foolishness can also result, like the strange set of ineffective and patently hypocritical laws surrounding alcohol here in Oklahoma.

So, we'll see what happens to this state question. Apparently, it is likely to go down to defeat. We'll see... if so, in order to drown my sorrows on election day, or perhaps to celebrate a victory (rare in my own voting life!), I'll have to visit the wine shop on Monday instead of election Tuesday.

As I type these words, the clock is ticking, the returns are rolling in, so I'll update this blog post when the results are final. I doubt this one is going to make the national news (except perhaps, alas, to make fun of Oklahoma).

*UPDATE* The Oklahoma State Constitution has been amended: the liquor stores in future will be able to be open on election day. We went by our favorite local liquor to congratulate them! It was 52% to 48%, but that's good enough for victory!

Meanwhile, here is today's proverb read out loud:

2244. Cum vinum intrat, exit sapientia.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Meum mihi, suum cuique carum

In English: To me mine is dear, and to each person his own is dear.

This will be my last proverb post on the "cuique suum," "to each his own" theme. As I hope to have shown in the past few days, it's possible to build up proverbs based on a simple theme. By adding more specific details to the basic form of the proverb, people were able to make explicit the meanings of the proverb that are only implicit in the simpler form, emphasizing one particular interpretation suited to the meaning they wanted to convey.

Today's proverb makes explicit that while I might have an attachment to something that is mine, other people are going to be attached to what is theirs. We can all understand how we are attached to our "own" things - our family, our country, our language, the food we eat, and music we listen to, and so on. That's the "meum mihi carum" part of the proverb. The second part of the proverb asks us to stretch that realization and to understand that in the same way that you care about your own stuff, other people do the same: "suum cuique carum."

I was thinking that this might be a good proverb on the eve of the elections here in the U.S. People are going to go out and vote tomorrow, and each person is going to vote differently from another person, based on what is dear to them. That's only natural! The democratic process is all about how a decision is reached by means of all those individual choices.

So: please vote, everybody!

And here is today's proverb read out loud:

941. Meum mihi, suum cuique carum.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Sua cuique hora

In English: To each his own hour.

I though this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about glory. Although it might be the case that everybody has his own moment (or moments!) of glory, it's not likely that someone would feel a sense of glory all the time. In fact, maybe you have never even had a moment of glory. Well, don't worry! Today's proverb assures you that, sooner or later, you hour will come!

We could consider this to be the ancient Latin equivalent of Andy Warhol's modern dictum, first pronounced in that momentous year of 1968: "In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Warhol's words have since given rise to the proverbial phrase "fifteen minutes of fame."

Of course, Warhol's idea was basically a cynical one. He saw that the massive machinations of the popular media were able to make anyone famous, even someone with no claim to fame whatsoever - but that fame would last a mere 15 minutes or so, unable to last any longer. The pop band Sugar Ray named one of their albums 14:59 to indicate that their 15 minutes of fame were not up yet!

The Latin saying is not as cynical as Warhol's "fifteen minutes of fame," thank goodness. So if your moment of glory has not come yet, just wait: the Latin proverb promises you that your hour will come, although each person's hour comes at its own time!

With happy thoughts for your Latin "hora," whenever that may be, here is today's proverb read out loud:

935. Sua cuique hora.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Gloria cuique sua est

In English: To each his own glory.

I thought this would be a positive follow-up to the more cynical "cuique" proverb in yesterday's post. This proverb assures us that everyone has their own glory, their own achievement, although of course not everyone achieves glory in the same way.

This proverb gives me a good excuse to write something here about the Latin word gloria, which gives us the English word "glory" (and the name "Gloria" too, of course!). This means that the Latin word is easy to translate into English, but the ease of that translation masks the complicated history of this word.

The word gloria forms part of the classical Latin vocabulary and was an important part of Roman culture. The fame and renown of glory, and the pursuit of glory, were highly approved by the ancient Romans. Etymologically, the word appears to be related to the Latin word "cluere," "to be known as, famous for," as in the adjective "inclutus," "famed, famous." If you think about it, you can see the relationship between glo- and clu- since "g" and "c" are voiced/unvoiced versions of the same consonant, and the vowels "o" and "u" easily slide from one into the other (just look at the English pronounciation of the word "boot" if you want proof of how a long "o" can easily turn into an "u"!).

Yet the word gloria also acquired a special meaning in Christian Latin, as the equivalent of Greek "doxa," which in turn is used as the equivalent of Hebrew "shekinah," the in-dwelling of God and his radiant presence. You can read about the shekinah as light in the Jewish Encyclopedia online.

So, this Latin proverb has a quite different meaning based on whether you understand the Latin gloria in its classical Roman meaning, or in its later Christian meaning. For the Romans, the proverb means "everyone has his own fame." For the Christians, the proverb means "everyone manifests the presence of God in their own way."

So please keep in mind the multiple meanings of "gloria" as you listen to today's proverb read out loud:

934. Gloria cuique sua est.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Suus cuique crepitus bene olet

In English: To each person his own his fart smells nice.

Yesterday's proverb, suum cuique pulchrum est, "to each person his own is beautiful," was a kind of subtle dig at the way people have blinders on when it comes to judging the quality of something that belongs to them. This proverb puts it much more bluntly. People's sense of self-admiration is strong that they think even their own farts don't smell too bad!

The Latin word crepitus can actually refer to any kind of crackling or popping sound. For example, the phrase crepitus digiti means a "snap of the fingers." In this proverb, however, the context - smelling nice - indicates that the sound here is definitely the sound made by a fart.

You can read more about the Latin "crepitus" at Laudator Temporis Acti in his delightful posts Crackling Wind, God Save the King, The God Fart (with this follow-up post), as well as his discussion of today's proverb in a post entitled Executive Washroom. Cheers to Michael Gilleland for this excellent blog - if you have not visited it before, you will find all kinds of fascinating things to read there.

Not surprisingly, farts and farting are a motif found in proverbs and folklore from all over the world. Dan Ashliman's fantastic folklore and mythology website has this collection of stories in English for your reading pleasure, Breaking Wind: Legendary Farts, including The Historic Fart and The Father of Farts (1001 Nights); How Till Eulenspiegel Became a Furrier's Apprentice, Till Eulenspiegel and the Innkeeper at Cologne, Deceiving the Devil and Timmermann's Fart (Germany); and General Pumpkin (Korea).

Meanwhile, here is today's proverb read out loud:

1508. Suus cuique crepitus bene olet.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Suum cuique pulchrum est

In English: To each person his own is beautiful.

This is another in the series of proverbs I've done starting from cuique suum, "to each his own" a few days ago. It's amazing what a variety of proverbs can be generated based on this simple theme.

Today's proverb is one that seems to say something very obvious on the surface: each person thinks that his own thing, whatever that thing is, is something beautiful. Which is true... but there is a bit of sarcasm in this proverb as well, the idea being that each person thinks his own thing is beautiful - even when it is not at all! You can see a great illustration of this in an Aesop's fable:

Zeus had decided to award prizes to the most beautiful animal babies so he inspected each and every one of them in order to reach a decision. The monkey also participated, claiming to be the mother of a very beautiful baby: a naked, snub-nosed little monkey whom she cradled in her arms. When the gods took a look at that monkey, they all started to laugh but his mother insisted, 'The winner is for Zeus to decide! But in my eyes this one is the most beautiful of all.' This story has the following meaning for everyone, in my opinion: each person thinks that his own child is beautiful.'

So be careful when you use this proverb: although it does not say so outright, the words are making fun of the person, just like the monkey mother who thought her baby was the most beautiful of all.

Here is today's proverb read out loud:

940. Suum cuique pulchrum est.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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Suus est mos cuique genti

In English: There is for each nation its own custom.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about how each person loves his own country. This proverb explores the diversity of nations from a different angle: each nation has its own custom.

This is something we are all fully aware of, and there is probably an important item in the news every day which, in some way, relates back to the variety of customs among the different peoples of the world. For example, there has been a torrent of discussion in the news recently about the custom of veiling in different Muslim nations. (Here's a nice graphic from the BBC about different types of veils in the Muslim world.)

The key word in this proverb, mos, is one of my favorite Latin words. In the singular, as used here, it means "custom" or "practice" or even "law." This is where we get the English word "moral," since the stem of the Latin word is actually mor, although the "r" in the stem is not visible in the nominative singular form.

Now in the plural, mores means something quite different. It is the Roman word for "character" or "personality." In other words, a person's character is the whole collection of the many customs and habits, the assembly of characteristic behaviors (plural) that makes that person who they are. I think that is an ingenious way to to express the plurality of traits which is embodied in any person.

But wait: things get even better. There is another Latin word morosus, meaning "full of mores" (the Latin suffix -osus means "full of"). Just as with the corresponding English word "morose," the Latin word morosus means "grumpy, crabby, sullen, gloomy."

Isn't that great? Everyone has a personality composed of certain traits and behaviors, but if someone has too much personality, too much eccentricity and too many peculiar habits, then they become awfully hard to get along with!

So think about the lovely Latin word mos and its many meanings as you list to today's proverb read out loud:

931. Suus est mos cuique genti.

The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.

If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.

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