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
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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