Sol oculus mundi

In English: The sun is the eye of the world.

I thought this would make a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, scientia sol mentis. In that proverb, the sol was a metaphorical sun, the knowledge that illuminates the mind. In today's proverb, the sol, "sun," is the literal sun, the glowing orb we see in the sky, and metaphorically, it is the oculus, the "eye" of the world.

Not surprisingly, if the sun is the eye of the world, of course luna oculus noctis, "the moon is the eye of the night."

This second saying, about the moon, can be found in the wonderful medieval dialogue of Pippin and Albin. Here is an excerpt of the "question-and-answer," including the moon:

P. Quid est sol?—A. Splendor orbis, coeli pulchritudo, naturae gratia, honor diei, horarum distributor. (What is the sun? It is the shining of the world, the beauty of the sky, the grace of nature, the dignity of the day, the bestower of the hours.)

P. Quid est luna?—A. Oculus noctis, roris larga, praesaga tempestatum. (What is the moon? It is the eye of the night, abundant with dew, the foreteller of storms.)

P. Quid sunt stellae?—A. Pictura culminis, nautarum gubernatores, noctis decor. (What are the stars? The picture on the heights, the pilots of sailors, the beauty of the night.)

If you have never taken a look at this delightful medieval dialogue, I highly recommend it! It has a riddling quality that can give your brain a good twist, even if the grammar is very simple!Meanwhile, here are today's proverbs read out loud:

230.Sol oculus mundi.

231. Luna oculus noctis.

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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Scientia sol mentis

In English: Knowledge is the sun of the mind.

I thought this saying would be a good follow-up to the proverbs about scientia that I've posted over the last two days: ex luna scientia and scientia potentia. Today's proverb, scientia sol mentis, is the motto of the University of Delaware, and of Springdale Academy, an English-language school in Darjeeling, India. You can even find it inscribed on a picture frame at this Gifts for the Teacher website.

As often, there is a bit of sound play in the Latin with scientia and sol which is hard to capture in English. Maybe "learning is the light of the mind," with "learning-light."

This is also a good proverb for coming to terms with the Latin word sol, meaning "sun." In this form, it's easy to recognize that this is the word for "sun." In other forms of the word, though, it's easy to get this word confused with the adjective solus, meaning "one, only," and then there is solum, meaning "floor, foundation; soil, earth, land," and, last but not least, there is solium, meaning "seat, chair; throne." When you see the word sol in the nominative case like this, it's unambiguous - but you need to be ready to meet this similar-looking words at any moment. So if you see the Latin word soli... watch out! You'll have to figure out which word it comes from based on context!

So, enjoy the sol when you listen to today's proverb read out loud:

232. Scientia sol mentis.

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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Scientia potentia

In English: Knowledge is power.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, ex luna scientia. The syntax for today's proverb is even simpler than in the proverb from yesterday - just two nominative nouns, with an implied verb "is." It's the kind of proverb you could do on the first day of a Latin class, and that's why I made it the first proverb in the Latin Via Proverbs book!

The parallel form of these words is also a good way to start to explore some basics of Latin word formation. Both of these nouns are formed from Latin verbs, scientia is from the verb scire, "to know," and potentia is from posse, "to be able" (the pot- root of the stem is not visible in the infinitive, but you can find it popping up here and there throughout the conjugated forms of the verb!). There are all kinds of Latin nouns created with this -entia suffix. You can start out by looking at compounds of the words in today's proverb: con-scientia, for example, and im-potentia. These both have good English cognates: conscience and impotence. You can then look at some other Latin -entia words that have well-known English cognates: absentia, abstinentia, benevolentia, diligentia, eloquentia, indulgentia, innocentia, intellegentia, patientia and providentia.

The saying itself, scientia potentia, was a motto of Francis Bacon, the great philosopher who played a leading role in the scientific revolution. Born in 1561, he was knighted in 1603 and became Lord High Chancellor of England in 1617. He is the author of many great works in Latin, and there are even people who have promoted the idea that Francis Bacon was the author of Shakespeare's plays. If you want to take a look at his Latin works, you can find the Historia Regni Henrici Septimi Regis Angliae, the Sermones Fideles, and the Novum Organum at The Latin Library online, along with many English translations of Bacon's works online.

So, to add to your audio knowledge and power, here is today's proverb read out loud:

1. Scientia potentia.

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 a variant on this saying, scientia potestas est, read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).

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Ex luna scientia

In English: From the moon, knowledge.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, ex duris gloria. Today's saying uses similar syntax - "ex A, B" - but obviously a quite different message.

In fact, today's saying is not ancient, but modern! It was the motto of the Apollo XIII mission to the moon. You can see the mission emblem below, with the motto clearly visible, along with the horses of the sun streaking away from the blue earth across space, with both the sky and the moon in the background. This is the mission that actually did not make it to the moon, as made famous in the wonderful film Apollo XIII.

I've often pointed out that proverbs are a free-form body of expression, where a given proverb can exist in many different variants, giving rise to similar new proverbs based on pre-existing patterns. Well, this applies to today's proverb as well. The Apollo XIII motto, ex luna scientia, provided the inspiration for the Latin motto of Star Trek's Starfleet Academy: ex astris scientia, "from the stars, knowledge."

Wikipedia informs me that in the absence of a Latin grammar consultant, the motto was stated originally as "Ex astra scientia." Grammatically, this does not work, because the Latin word astrum is a neuter noun, so you have to say either ex astro scientia, "from the star, knowledge," or ex astris scientia, "from the stars knowledge." This correct version appeared in the later episodes of Star Trek whenever the Latin motto of the Starfleet Academy was invoked.

The grammar is definitely important here, and Latin students need to know that the preposition ex takes the ablative case. Still, this important bit of grammar is not hard, so today's proverb - ex luna scientia - is simple enough to be used on the very first day of a Latin class, showing the nominative and ablative forms of first declension nouns.

So, with a salute to space travelers everywhere, here is today's proverb read out loud:

25. Ex luna scientia.

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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Ex duris gloria

In English: From hard things, glory.

I thought this little motto would be a good follow up to yesterday's proverb about dura duris and "tough love" in Latin.

This is a popular Latin motto, and I was able to find some examples of the motto clearly stamped on coins.

For example, here is a German 17th century 2/3 thaler coin where you can easily read the Latin motto. Depicted with the motto are some ships at sea, which is definitely a difficult and risky business and that can perhaps results in glory, but which might also result in disaster. If you're interested in purchasing the coin, it looks like it is available for $475. I don't collect coins, so I don't know if that is a good price or not!

I also found a 17th-century silver medal that shows the words EX DURIS GLORIA with ships at sea. This one is even less expensive, if you're interested in a purchase!

Another coin image that I found online is another 17th-century German coin, this one for 1 1/2 thalers. It's a bit harder to make out the words here, but it's apparently a very nice coin, since it's going for $1500.

There was a student in my Biblical Greek class a few years ago who was collecting ancient coins from every city mentioned in the New Testament. What an amazing hobby! He explained that it is possible to acquire coins quite cheaply if you are willing to settle for slightly damaged coins or coins that are badly rubbed away on one side. At the end of the Greek class, we all met at his house and he gave us a showing of the coins he had collected so far. Everybody was able to practice their Greek by reading words and phrases that they could make out on these ancient coins. What a powerful learning experience! I wonder if anyone has created an online gallery of ancient coins focused on the usefulness of the coins' inscriptions for Greek and Latin language-learning? That would be a wonderful resource. If you know of something like that out there, leave a comment here at the blog!

Meanwhile, since I haven't won the lottery lately, I better close all these browser windows, since I don't have any money for buying pretty coins. Luckily, there's no major outlay involved in listening to this bit of audio, so here is today's saying read out loud:

146. Ex duris gloria.

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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Duris dura franguntur.

In English: Hard things are broken by hard things.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to the other proverbs based on the passive voice which I've posted over the past few days. This saying is basically the Latin equivalent of "fight fire with fire." In this case, if you have something hard to crack, you better have a hard tool to do the job.

A variant form of this saying, in Petrarch, is Dura duris efficacius leniuntur, "Hard things, by means of hard things, are more effectively softened." Although Petrarch is definitely far better known today for his works composed in Italian, he also wrote a large body of work in Latin, which you can read online. This saying is found in a tract called De remediis utriusque fortune, "On the remedies for both good and bad fortune." It is a conversation with these allegorical speakers: Dolor, "Pain," Gaudium, "Joy," Ratio, "Reason," and Spes, "Hope." They discuss a wide range of topics, including a section entitled De Duritie Paterna, "On What To Do When Your Father is Difficult." Not surprisingly, the dura duris strategy is one of the pieces of advice that is given!

Dolor explains, Patior durum patrem, "I suffer from a hard father." Ratio replies, Quid si durus est filius? Dura duris efficacius leniuntur, et sepe medici mollioris deformior est cicatrix. "What then if the son is hard? Hard things by means of hard things are more effectively softened, while it is often the case the scar of a soft doctor is more disfiguring."

Dolor doesn't take any comfort form this, and says again: Patrem durum habeo, "I have a hard father." Ratio responds, Si pater verus est, diligit, et si diligit non que mulceant, sed que prosint cogitat, "If the father is a true father, he is a loving father, and if he is a loving father, he is thinking not which things are softening, but things which are uplifting."

But poor Dolor is not consoled: Durissimus pater est michi, "My father is really really hard on me."

So, hoping that it might be of some help to poor Dolor in trying to understand his father's "tough love" strategy, here is today's proverb read out loud:

3032. Duris dura franguntur.

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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Non ducor, duco.

In English: I am not led: I lead.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb: Tangor, non frangor, ab undis, "I am touched but not broken by the waves." That saying depended on two different passive verbs, tangor-frangor, while today's proverb depends on a play between the active duco and passive ducor.

As it happens, this saying is the motto of Sao Paulo, Brazil! You can see the Sao Paulo coat of arms at wikipedia, with the Latin saying clearly displayed. As often, the various visual elements of the coat of arms are also symbolic: the use of the color red symbolizes the blood poured out in defense of the city, while the arm wielding an axe shows the willingness of its citizens to fight in the city's defense. The cross on the banner flying from the axe is the cross of the Order of Christ, a Portuguese symbol, recalling the founding of the city by the Portuguese. Finally, there are coffee tree branches! That is because of the great importance of coffee for the city's economic well-being. You can see even see the little coffee berries on the branches if you look closely!

Probably the biggest problem in translating this saying into English is the nightmare spelling of the English verb: "I lead" (present active tense) versus "I am led" (passive). Since there is a perfectly respectable English word "lead," which is pronounced "led" - the metal used by plumbers, "lead" - it is extremely common for people to also spell the past tense and the passive forms of "lead" with the word "lead."

When people complain about how hard Latin is, they need to remember the years... literally: YEARS ... that they spent learning how to spell English words. Or, perhaps, the years they did not spend in learning to spell!

So, with no worries about English spelling, here is today's Latin proverb read out loud:

3030. Non ducor, duco.

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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Tangor, non frangor, ab undis

In English: I am touched but not broken by the waves.

This is one of those proverbs that loses a lot in translation! The charm of the Latin depends on the word play between tangor-frangor, which I can't quite figure out how to reproduce in English. Perhaps "I am touched but not tumbled by the waves," or something like that? Well, as I've often said, the point is not to translate into English but to enjoy in the Latin, with its lovely tangor-frangor.

I chose this proverb for today as a follow-up to yesterday's proverb, which was about the philosopher who remains silent even when he is being beaten and insulted. The verbal and physical blows do not affect him, and that is the proof that he is a philosopher.

Like so many Latin sayings, this one can be found in the early modern emblem literature. You can see an image for this emblem as published in Jacob Cats's Sinne- en minne-beelden (1627). The emblem page for Tangor, non frangor, ab undis includes additional moralizing material including this observation which takes the metaphor of the waves and provides a whole series of interpretations for the dangerous "waves" that might make trouble: Periclitatur castitas in delitiis, humilitas in divitiis, pietas in negotiis, veritas in multiloquio, charitas in hoc mundo, "Chastity is endangered in pleasures, humility is endangered in wealth, piety is endangered in business matters, truth is endangered in talkativeness, and charity is endangered in this world."

The text for this emblem also includes a delightful little poem in English:

Though clamorouse tongues both curse and blame,
A constant harte is stil the same.
You sit as chiefest counseller, in Venus goulden hall;
And are saluted solemnely, with wordes, and eke with all
The courtesie, that lovers can invent, for to youre grace,
Whee kneele, and soule and body both wee offer up apace.
Yet for all this, you still are coole, which sheweth unto mee,
That through the salt sea ofte are founde, fresh currants for to bee,
Which keepe themselves stil fresh and pure, not mingled as wee see,
My love through flames can passe, and yet no harme receaveth shee.

If you have not looked through the early modern emblem books, they are a lot of fun - with Latin and often materials in many other languages. You can find a whole series of emblem books online at Emblem Project Utrecht.

And here is today's proverb read out loud:

3031. Tangor, non frangor, ab undis.

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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Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses

In English: If you had remained silent, you would have remained a philosopher.

This is a proverb with a very similar message to yesterday's proverb: Stultus quoque, si tacuerit, sapiens reputabitur, "The fool, too, if he can just keep quiet, will be considered a wise man." Yesterday's proverb, though, was a future conditional statement. Today's proverb is one of those delightful Latin past-contrary-to-fact conditions, with the easily recognizably pluperfect subjunctive: If you had kept quiet (you did NOT keep quiet), you would have remained a philosopher (but you did NOT do that!).

The saying is based on a passage from Boethius's remarkable composition, The Consolation of Philosophy:

nam cum quidam adortus esset hominem contumeliis, qui non ad uerae uirtutis usum ad superbam gloriam falsum sibi philosophi nomen induerat, adiecissetque iam se sciturum an ille philosophus esset si quidem inlatas iniurias leniter patienterque tolerasset, ille patientiam paulisper assumpsit acceptaque contumelia uelut insultans: "iam tandem," inquit, "intellegis me esse philosophum?" tum ille nimium mordaciter: "intellexeram," inquit, "si tacuisses."

A certain man had heaped insults on a man who had falsely labeled himself a philosopher, but not for the purpose of true virtue but rather for vainglory, and he then added that he would soon know whether the man was really a philosopher or not based on whether he patiently and meekly put up with the insults spoken against him. That man put on a show of patience for a little while as if accepting the insults and scoffing at them. Then he said, "Now can you see that I am a philosopher?" Then the first man said quite cuttingly, "I might, if you had kept quiet."

This anecdote in Boethius became part of the treasure trove of exempla that permeated medieval European culture, as for example in the wonderful collection by Odo of Cheriton:

Mos erat apud Athenas, quod qui voluit haberi pro philosopho, bene verberaretur, et, si patienter se haberet, pro philosopho haberetur. Quidam autem bene uerberabatur, et, antequam iudicatum esset quod philosopho haberetur, statim post uerbera exclamauit dicens: Bene sum dignus uocari philosophus; et respondit ei quidam: Frater, si tacuisses, philosophus esses.

There was a custom in Athens, that anyone who wanted to be considered a philosopher would be thoroughly whipped and, if he could undergo this patiently, he would be considered a philosopher. A certain man, however, was thoroughly whipped and, before the judgment was made about his being a philosopher, he shouted out right after the whipping: "I am definitely worthy of being called a philosopher!" Another man answered him: "Brother, if you had kept quiet, you would have been a philosopher."

As often, Odo pairs up this human story with an animal story (that is one of the great charms of his collection of stories). You can probably guess what animal fable he pairs with the talkative philosopher: the story of the crow who couldn't keep his mouth shut!

Caseus in rostro Corvi pendebat ab alto, et Vulpes, cupiens caseum comedere, dixit Corvo: Quam bene cantabat pater tuus! Vellem audire vocem tuam. Corvus aperuit os suum et cantavit, et sic caseus cecidit, et Vulpes eum comedit.

A cheese was dangling on high in the beak of a crow and the fox, wanting to eat the cheese, said to the crow: How nicely your father used to sing! I would like to hear your voice. The crow opened his mouth and sang, and thus the cheese fell down, and the fox ate it.

So, if you want to be a philosopher, keep your mouth shut! And watch out for those hungry foxes too!

I'll open my mouth just long enough to read today's proverb out loud...

3447. Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.

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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Stultus quoque, si tacuerit, sapiens reputabitur

In English: The fool, too, if he can just keep quiet, will be considered a wise man.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb. Even if spoken words do not leave a physical trace (verba volant), they can still form a lasting impression in people's minds. This proverb points out that a foolish person can make no better choice than to keep quiet, and perhaps be considered a wise man in the process.

An English variant that I have heard on this saying is, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." This is a more discouraging proposition, of course. The Latin saying lets the foolish person hope that he might even be considered a wise man if he can manage to keep his mouth shut.

The Latin saying actually comes from the Biblical Book of Proverbs, where the full form is Stultus quoque, si tacuerit, sapiens reputabitur, et si compresserit labia sua, intelligens, "The fool likewise, if he keeps quiet, will be thought a wise man, and if he would keep his mouth shut, he will be thought to be intelligent."

As you can see from the number of this proverb, it comes near the end of the Latin Via Proverbs book, because grammatically it is more challenging than most of the other proverbs in the book. Conditional sentences are never easy, and this one involves a future passive form (reputabitur), along with a future perfect, which you often find in conditional sentences - but not in many other constructions. If you are using Wheelock, this is a construction that is not covered until Chapter 33!

Meanwhile, in the spirit of making noise rather than keeping quiet, here is today's proverb read out loud:

3442. Stultus quoque, si tacuerit, sapiens reputabitur.

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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Verba volant, littera scripta manet.

In English: Words fly away; written letters remain.

After the proverbs I've cited in the past few days both about writing and about speech, I thought this would be a good proverb for today. A related form of this saying is Verba volant, scripta manent, "Words fly away; written things remain."

The world we live in is so powerfully permeated by writing that it can be hard for us to appreciate that the invention of writing was a tremendous change in the history of human culture, which had flourished for thousands upon thousands of years without written records of the miracle of human speech. There are a couple of books I always recommend to people who want to ponder some of the mind-blowing implications of the differences between the spoken word and the written word: Walter Ong's Orality and Literacy and, more recently, Leonard Shlain's The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image. If you are especially interested in the study of orality and literacy in the classical Greco-Roman world, a wonderful introduction is Eric Havelock's The Muse Learns to Write.

These are all marvelous books, and I had to read them all in my "spare time," because they were never part of the curriculum of studies in all the many years I studied literature and languages at various universities. I've always been amazed and surprised at the lack of self-awareness on the part of the writing-centric university regarding the nature of writing itself. I think it's that lack of self-awareness which has made the university especially slow to grasp and understand the advent of new digital technologies which take the phenomenon of writing to a new level, making it possible to digitize and record human communication in all kinds of new ways - audio, video, and the unparalleled dissemination of images, images and more images, using digital technologies.

One of the most striking things I have noticed about the writing done by my students is that the problems they have with writing are strictly related to the problems that are unique to writing, and which are not factors in spoken speech. For example, they struggle with capitalization - not surprisingly, since we make no distinction between upper- and lower-case letters when we speak. They cannot manage punctuation, even basic punctuation such as commas and periods and apostrophes, because we speak perfectly well without punctuation. They cannot spell, and using a spellchecker really does nothing to improve spelling skills even though it can help you identify potential mistakes; the only way to really learn to spell is to read and read and read, something my students are not very likely to do in a world where video rules, absolutely.

I continue to attempt to teach my students writing skills exactly because the written word remains. When they go to look for a job, the traces they will leave behind with potential employers will be written traces: resumes, webpages, and so on. Oral skills are enormously valuable in person, but when you have to represent yourself in a more "permanent" fashion, you need to be able to use the written word to do that. Will written resumes and letters of intent be replaced by videocasts? Perhaps... but until that does happen, I'll keep trying to help my students master the mysteries of the written word.

Meanwhile, in that weird invisible permanence of digital audio, you can listen to today's proverbs read out loud:

1555. Verba volant, littera scripta manet.

1556. Verba volant, scripta manent.

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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Magnus liber magnum malum

In English: A big book is a big evil.

After the proverbs I've cited in praise of books over the past several days, I thought it would be good to point out that not every book is perfect. And when a book is long, you suffer its imperfections at much greater length!

This Latin saying is based on a sentiment expressed in Greek by the poet Callimachus. Just as the Latin saying is very easy to understand, so is the Greek: mega biblion, mega kakon. The Greek "mega" means "big" (as in megavitamins), "biblion" means "book" (as in the Bible), "kakon" means "bad, evil" (as in cacophony).

As a student of Latin literature, you have probably heard of Callimachus in the context of the Roman poet Catullus and the other "Novi Poetae," "New Poets," who were inspired the innovations of the Hellenistic poets and the literary culture of Alexandria in Greek Egypt. Callimachus lived during the third century B.C.E. A native of Cyrene, he worked in Alexandria at the great Library there. Callimachus advocated highly artful poetry, with each exquisite word carefully chosen. Although Callimachus denounced big books, he was nevertheless a prolific writer, although most of his writings have been lost and survive only in fragments. You can read some of the surviving Hymns by Callimachus online at theoi.com.

Proverbs, of course, celebrate the spirit of brevity, so I think that a proverb is a very appropriate way to denounce the dangers of big books!

And here, briefly, is today's proverb read out loud:

59. Magnus liber magnum malum.

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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Liber medicina animi

In English: A book is medicine for the soul.

I thought this would make a good follow-up to the proverbs about books that I've posted in the past several days: Optimus magister bonus liber, Bonus liber amicus optimus, and Libri muti magistri sunt. Today's saying applies a metaphor from the world of medicine: if your soul is troubled, a book might be the cure you need.

Of course, it would also be possible to translate this as "A book is medicine for mind." That might, in fact, be a better translation, since the word "soul" has strongly religious connotations in English, which is not true of the Latin word animus. As often, even when the meaning of the Latin is entirely clear, finding a straight-forward and accurate English translation can be very frustrating.

Latin, in fact, has two closely related words, which are both very difficult to translate into English: animus (the word in question here), and the feminine noun anima. Etymologically, they both come from the same root, meaning "wind" (hence the word "anemometer," from the Greek word anemos, meaning, quite simply, "wind").

If you look up animus in the big Lewis and Short dictionary, it tells you: In a general sense, the rational soul in man (in opp. to the body, corpus, and to the physical life, anima). In a more restricted sense, the mind as thinking, feeling, willing, the intellect, the sensibility, and the will; the general power of perception and thought, the reason, intellect, mind; the power of feeling, the sensibility, the heart, the feelings, affections, inclinations, disposition, passions; the power of willing, the will, inclination, desire, purpose, design, intention.

If you look up anima, the dictionary tells you: [Literally] A current of air, a breeze, wind; the air; the air inhaled and exhaled, breath. [Metaphorically] The vital principle, the breath of life. [Metonymically] A creature endowed with anima, a living being.

So that is why in English we have words like "animate" and "inanimate," meaning "alive" or "not living." If someone is "animated," it means they are in motion; you can see the spirit of life moving through and with them.

Meanwhile, here is an etymology to really ponder. Think about the English word "animus." It is our version of Latin animus, but it has taken a quite negative turn for the worse! The Oxford English Dictionary explains: "animus. Actuating feeling, disposition in a particular direction, animating spirit or temper, usually of a hostile character; hence, animosity."

I guess in order to keep our Latin animus from turning into a mean-spirited hostile wicked English animus, we should read more books! Yes, we all need medicine for our animus, as this English etymology clearly warns.

So, before you go get a book and start reading, here is today's proverb for you to listen to read out loud:

127. Liber medicina animi.

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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Optimus magister bonus liber

In English: The best teacher is a good book.

I thought this would be a very good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, Libri muti magistri sunt, "Books are mute teachers. Today's proverb emphasizes that books are, in fact, really great teachers, "optimal" teachers, we might say in English.

The elegance of the proverb depends on the play between the words optimus and bonus, "best" and "good." The word optimus is the superlative form of bonus. Notice how the proverb uses a parallel structure in order to call attention to this word play: Optimus magister || bonus liber, A-B || A-B. Parallelism is one of the most powerful structural features of Latin word order. We use parallelisms in English, too, but the freedom of Latin word order allows Latin speakers and writers to create parallelisms that might be impossible within the rules of English grammar.

There's another very similar saying in Latin: Bonus liber amicus optimus, "a good book is the best friend." Notice that this one has a different word order pattern than the first proverb. Here the pattern relies a very typical Latin pattern where the strongest emphasis in the sentence belongs to the first position and the final position. Here the first position is occupied by bonus, "good," while the final position is occupied by optimus, reinforcing the play on words that is at the heart of this proverb. This is definitely an effect that would not be possible in English, since we need adjectives to come before the noun (as in bonus liber), while Latin is perfectly content to also let the adjective follow the noun (as in amicus optimus).

As you can see, then, both proverbs achieve a play on bonus-optimus, either by means of a parallelism, or by means of the first-last position emphases.

See if you can pay attention to these structural features as you listen to the proverbs!

46. Optimus magister bonus liber.

47. Bonus liber amicus optimus.

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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Libri muti magistri sunt

In English: Books are mute teachers.

In the spirit of the proverbs I've offered over the past several days on the topic of speech and wisdom, I thought this proverb would be an interesting counterpart. There's a nice sound-play with muti-magistri. I'm not sure how we could do that in English. Maybe: "Books are teachers who do not talk," or something like that!

This proverb illuminates what has always seemed to me an incredible paradox in the negative reaction many teachers have to online teaching. Since I teach fully online courses, I often am challenged by people who think that technology is impersonal. Most people still seem to assume that "face to face" contact is essential for learning. Yet think about it: we assign books to students all the time! We assign those books because we know the students can learn a great deal that way! No, they cannot see Dickens "face to face," and they cannot talk with him, but if they read a book by Dickens, they can learn so much that Dickens has to teach them. That is exactly the point of today's proverb: Libri muti magistri sunt.

So then, I wonder, why are these people who are so devoted to books so hostile to other forms of virtual communication? Books are simply one form of asynchronous communication, just as email is another form of asynchronous communication, along with webpages, video, and so on.

Speaking for myself, I did most of my learning in school by reading books. The classroom, to be honest, was not a magical place for me, but I positively haunted the library at all hours of the day and night. I loved the library, which was filled with the silent voices of thousands, no, millions of wise people, from all over the world and from over stretches of thousands of years of time. Magic: that was the library. The classroom: that was simply a chore.

Of course, I know not everybody feels that way. But teaching online has been a great opportunity for me. When I teach online, it feels like I am inhabiting the Internet (a giant virtual library) with my students, and I am simply their personal librarian. We consult the muti magistri together.

And if you didn't realize that the Internet has become a huge virtual library, just take a look at Google Books... glory hallelujah! The silent teachers, at your fingertips!

So, adding a bit of noice to the silence, here is today's proverb read out loud:

48. Libri muti magistri sunt.

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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Satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum

In English: Plenty of eloquence, not much intelligence.

I thought this proverb would be a good follow-up on the "speaking" proverbs that I've posted over the past few days. This particular saying depends on a very nice place on words in the Latin: eloquentiae-sapientiae, which I tried to capture, at least partially, with "eloquence-intelligence" in English.

The idea here is that somebody can be a glib speaker, but this does not mean that there is wisdom in what they say. For example, you might be easily impressed by someone's big vocabulary, or their effortless delivery, or perhaps even just their accent (Americans are usually in awe of British accents, for example). Yet none of these external features can guarantee the quality of what's inside. You might call this a variation on "you can't judge a book by its cover," adapted to the particular world of elocution and the spoken word.

The saying itself can be found in Sallust's Bellum Catilinae. Sallust's description of Catiline is absolutely riveting, wonderful Latin. Here's the passage in context:

L. Catilina, nobili genere natus, fuit magna vi et animi et corporis, sed ingenio malo pravoque. Huic ab adulescentia bella intestina, caedes, rapinae, discordia civilis grata fuere ibique iuventutem suam exercuit. Corpus patiens inediae, algoris, vigiliae supra quam cuiquam credibile est. Animus audax, subdolus, varius, cuius rei lubet simulator ac dissimulator, alieni adpetens, sui profusus, ardens in cupiditatibus; satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum. Vastus animus inmoderata, incredibilia, nimis alta semper cupiebat.

L. Catiline, born of a noble lineage, had great strength of mind and body, but wicked and corrupt tendencies. His joy from youth onwards was civil war, murder, plunder, and political factions, and that is how he passed the early part of his life. His body could put up with incredible extremes of hunger, cold and sleepless. His mind was bold, tricky, versatile, able to feign or dissemble whatever he wanted. He was jealous of other people's goods, profligate with his own, passionate in his wants. Plenty of eloquence, not much intelligence. His wide-ranging ambition was boundless beyond belief, always reaching for things beyond his grasp.

Well, we can be glad this character, at least, is not running for President in 2008!

So, with that one small comforting thought in the face of upcoming elections, here is today's proverb read out loud:

29. Satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum.

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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Dat verba in ventos

In English: He's pouring words out on the winds.

This is hard to translate into English exactly. The Latin says simply "he gives words," dat verba, which is not exactly an English idiom. So, be warned that the Latin does not say "pour" - that's just something I used in the English. Luckily the word-play of Latin verba-ventos comes through with the similar pairing of "words-winds" in English!

I picked this saying today because I thought it would be a good contrast to yesterday's proverb, Tua verba gerrae sunt, "Your words are fiddle-sticks." In other words, yesterday's proverb referred to a person who was talking but communicating nothing of substance. Today's saying refers to the opposite situation, when someone has something important to say, but he is not acccomplising anything by speaking. Instead of his words being heard by the audience, the words are instead simply poured forth onto the heedless winds and swept away.

You can find this phrase in Ovid's Amores, in a poem where the poor poet is shut outside the door of his lover's home. There is even a technical term for this type of poem in the Greco-Roman tradition: "paraklausithyron," the "standing-outside-the-door" poem. Usually this sort of poem is addressed to the door itself, but Ovid instead is speaking to the doorkeeper, the ianitor. So Ovid complains, Lentus es: an somnus, qui te male perdat, amantis / verba dat in ventos aure repulsa tua?, "You are slow - are are you asleep? A curse open you by the one who pours forth on the winds his lover's words, driven away as they are from your ears."

Another related idiom in Latin is dare verba ventis, "to give words to the winds," using the dative case, ventis, instead of the prepositional phrase in ventos. The poet Lucretius says, Tu fac ne ventis verba profundam, "It's up to you to make sure that I am not pouring forth my words to the winds." Indeed, that is a feeling every blogger, like every poet, knows well!

So, hoping there is somebody out there to listen to the words poured forth onto the digital winds, here is today's proverb read out loud:

1053. Dat verba in ventos.

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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Tua verba gerrae sunt

In English: Your words are fiddle-sticks.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, fabula, sed vera. Today's saying is just the opposite! It is about a story that is completely flimsy and without merit. The gerrae are literally "wattled twigs," or a light-weight construction made of twigs woven together. The word originally is Greek, gerron, and was borrowed from Greek into Latin.

I chose to use the English word "fiddle-sticks" as the translation, since I think that definitely conveys the idea here. People still say "Fiddle-sticks!" when someone makes some outrageous claim or says something that is utterly foolish.

Not surprisingly, the word gerrae was a regular exclamation in Roman comedy, as in the Asinaria or the Trinummus. The Epidicus even has the phrase, "Gerrae maximae!" - "Total poppycock!"

Although I have not been watching the TV series ROME, apparently the character Titus Pullo is fond of shouting out "Gerrae!" without any translation or explanation of the word. Presumably the English-speaking audience assumes that this is a really rousing swear-word, rather than the innocuous "Wicker-work!"

So here is today's proverb read out loud, just in case you run into Titus Pullo and want to converse:

112. Tua verba gerrae sunt.

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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Fabula, sed vera

In English: A story, but a true one.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, Publica fama non semper vana, "Common gossip is not always groundless." Today's proverb is an actual defense of something so outrageous that it might sound like a made-up story, when in fact the teller wants to insist that the story is true. A fuller form of the proverb is Non ficta fabula, sed vera historia, "Not a made-up story, but a true account."

In a lovely play on words, this Latin saying is also the motto of the Storey family. (There are actually many family mottoes which are based on this kind of word-play between the family's name in English and the contents of their Latin motto.)

I thought this would be a good opportunity to say something about the fabulous (!) linguistic fortune of the Latin word fabula. The word means simply "story" in Latin, and it gives us many English words, such as "fable," but also "fabulous." Today people use "fabulous" simply to mean something "good, great, excellent," but originally it meant something celebrated in myth or legend, as in this 1601 translation of Pliny by Philemon Holland, where he refers to "Atlas, the most fabulous mountaine of all Africke."

More important, in the Romance languages, the late Latin word fabulare, "to tell stories, to narrate," came to have a more and more general meaning until it became the standard verb of speaking, as in Spanish hablar, which is directly descended from Latin fabulare, as is the Portuguese falar. The Greek word parabola, "parable," gave rise to a similar late Latin word, parabolare, also meaning "to tell stories," and this in turn gave rise to the Italian parlare and French parler. The poor Latin loquor did not have much of a future at all, compared to the fortunes of fabulare and parabolare.

In short, as the history of the words themselves can prove, telling stories is what speaking is all about, fundamentally. So, with a salute to the word fabula, here is today's proverb read out loud:

17. Fabula, sed vera.

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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Publica fama non semper vana

In English: Common gossip is not always groundless.

I thought this would be a good follow-up to the post from yesterday, about how too much chit-chat can often be deceiving. Today's post is about Latin fama, which gives us the English word "fame," but which also refers to any kind of general "talk," "report," or even "rumor" or "gossip," as in today's proverb. I was complaining yesterday about how some people talk about others behind their back, spreading gossip that is not true. Today's proverb, however, points out that rumors sometimes really are true!

My favorite example of this is the amazing website snopes.com, a kind of clearing-house for urban legends. If you have never taken a look at this website, I highly recommend it. They use a color-coding system to indicate which urban legends and rumors are true, or not, or in-between. Here's how they explain the system:

Green bullets are used for two similar but distinct types of entries: claims that are demonstrably true, and urban legends that are based on real events. For the former, "demonstrably true" means that the claim has been established by a preponderance of (reliable) evidence; for the latter, a green bullet indicates that the legend described is based on an actual occurrence.
Yellow bullets generally describe disputed claims — factual items which the available evidence is too contradictory or insufficient to establish as either true or false. This category also includes claims that have a kernel of truth to them but are not literally true as stated. Some legends also fall into this classification when it cannot be determined whether the legends preceded similar real life events, or vice-versa.
Red bullets mark claims which cannot be established as true by a preponderance of (reliable) evidence. Some urban legends are also placed into this category because they describe events too implausible to have actually occurred, or too fantastic to have escaped mention in the media of the day.
Multi-colored bullets identify claims which are a mixture of truth and falsehood.

So if you were wondering whether putting in the digits of your PIN code in reverse at an ATM really will summon police, go to snopes! Thinking there might be dangerous levels of lead in your lipstick? Ask snopes!

And as today's proverb warns you... it COULD be true! Here is the proverb read out loud:

18. Publica fama non semper vana.

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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Mendacium semper in multiloquio

In English: There is always a lie in too much talk.

This is a saying that definitely loses something in translation, since the Latin features a very nice sound-play with mendacium, "lie," and multiloquio, "much-talking." The idea, of course, is that while words are normally supposed to convey information, an excess of words can be doing just the opposite: misleading you with false information.

I won't go into the tedious details, but I was prompted to choose this as today's proverb since in my personal life, I endured a truly awful personal encounter yesterday that was the result of someone (not me, I promise!) running off at the mouth and managing to convey some serious misinformation in the process.

The Latin word mendax has entered English in the word "mendacious." The word multiloquium, however, is something for which we do not have a good English equivalent. You can find the Latin word already in Plautus, who also uses the parallel word, parumloquium, "little-speaking."

The word multiloquium also became part of the Christian Latin vocabulary, and you can find a saying very similar to today's proverb in the Vulgate translation of the Biblical book of Proverbs 10:19, in multiloquio non deerit peccatum, qui autem moderatur labia sua prudentissimus est., "In much-speaking there will be no lack of sin, while he who controls his lips is most wise."

So, in the spirit of today's proverb, I will not go on to say more - except for today's proverb read out loud:

108. Mendacium semper in multiloquio.

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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Plures necat crapula quam gladius

In English: The hangover kills more than the sword.

Well, I could not resist including this proverb as a follow-up to the proverb from yesterday, Plures necat gula quam gladius, "The gullet kills more than the sword." As you can see, today's proverb is simply a variation on the same theme, substituting the word crapula, "hangover," for the word gula, "gullet, gluttony."

If you would like to see this proverb in context, consider the always delightful Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton, a masterpiece of 17th-century English, peppered with Latin throughout, including today's proverb, as you can see in this excerpt from "Man's Excellency, Fall, Miseries, Infirmities; The causes of them" here:

If you will particularly know how, and by what means, consult physicians, and they will tell you, that it is in offending in some of those six non-natural things, of which I shall dilate more at large; they are the causes of our infirmities, our surfeiting, and drunkenness, our immoderate insatiable lust, and prodigious riot. Plures crapula, quam gladius, is a true saying, the board consumes more than the sword. Our intemperance it is, that pulls so many several incurable diseases upon our heads, that hastens old age, perverts our temperature, and brings upon us sudden death. And last of all, that which crucifies us most, is our own folly, madness, (quos Jupiter perdit, dementat; by subtraction of his assisting grace God permits it) weakness, want of government, our facility and proneness in yielding to several lusts, in giving way to every passion and perturbation of the mind: by which means we metamorphose ourselves and degenerate into beasts. All which that prince of poets observed of Agamemnon, that when he was well pleased, and could moderate his passion, he was -- os oculosque Jove par: like Jupiter in feature, Mars in valour. Pallas in wisdom, another god; but when he became angry, he was a lion, a tiger, a dog, &c., there appeared no sign or likeness of Jupiter in him; so we, as long as we are ruled by reason, correct our inordinate appetite, and conform ourselves to God's word, are as so many saints: but if we give reins to lust, anger, ambition, pride, and follow our own way; we degenerate into beasts, transform ourselves, overthrow our constitutions, provoke God to anger, and heap upon us this of melancholy, and all kinds of incurable diseases, as a just and deserved punishment of our sins.

Indeed!

The Latin word crapula, like the words for so many of the finer things in life, is borrowed from Greek, "kraipale," meaning a headache, and in particular, a drunken headache. By extension, the word then comes to refer not just to the effects to drinking to excess, but to the drinking itself. Today's proverb could thus be translated as "Excessive drinking kills more than the sword does." But it sounds more fun to just say hangover!

And yes, if you are looking to improve your English vocabulary, "crapulous" is indeed an English word, along with a whole long list: crapulence, crapulency, crapulental, crapulosity, and crapulousness. Eegad, I love the Oxford English dictionary!

In English, the word is further extended to mean excessive drinking or excessive eating, bringing us around again to yesterday's proverb. I would suspect that is also why Burton translated the word as "board" in the commentary cited above. Some of the citations in the OED are clearly related to drinking (such as this reference from 1845 to "Men who spend their evenings over their wine and awake crapulous in the morning"), but some are clearly about eating (e.g., 1538 Rule of Honest Life "Eate without crapulosyte").

So with hopes that you did not awake crapulous on January 1, here is today's proverb read out loud:

1175. Plures necat crapula quam gladius.

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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Plures necat gula quam gladius

In English: The gullet kills more than the sword.

I thought this would be a good proverb to cite in the aftermath of New Year's Resolutions, when so many people are trying to lose weight. This saying reminds us that for all the violence done with swords and other weapons, our gobbling of food might be our most dangerous enemy.

The charm of the actual Latin proverb depends on the great play on words between the words gula, "throat, gullet," and gladius, "sword." I can't really figure out a good way to get at that in English - maybe "palate" and "pistol"...? "gullet" and "bullet"...? Well, that's why it is so much more fun just to read the proverbs in Latin, enjoying the Latin without worrying about an English version.

The Latin word gula actually gives us the English word "gullet." It is also the origin of the Latin verb gluttire, "to swallow," which ultimately gives us the English word "glutton," the person who swallows everything!

As for the Latin word gladius, "sword," this is where we get the word "gladiator," the person who fights with the sword. It is also the origin of the word "gladiolus," a diminutive form meaning "little sword."

So, as a Latin aid to those New Year's diet resolutions, here is today's proverb read out loud:

1174. Plures necat gula quam gladius.

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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Dum loquor, hora fugit

In English: As I am speaking, time is escaping.

This is another of the many Latin sayings that can be classified under the "time flies" heading. I thought it would be a good saying for today, since my winter break is over today - and it seems to have flown by in just an instant.

What I really like about this saying is the contrast between how we construct a reality by speaking, asserting ourselves and our existence in the world by means of speech. But even as we do that, time - silently - slips away. There is an enormous contrast here between our noisy existence and the silence of time. Precisely because it is silent, time is able to "slip away" (Latin fugit), unnoticed. If time were as noisy as we are, we might be able to catch hold of it and stop its escape. But time is silent, and makes its escape before we even notice.

The saying comes from a poem by Ovid, in Book I of his Amores. The setting is a typical one for elegiac love poetry: the poet needs to send a secret message to his lover, conveyed by her maid. He is giving the maid instructions about when and where to deliver the message:

Dum loquor, hora fugit. vacuae bene redde tabellas,
verum continuo fac tamen illa legat.
As I am speaking, time is escaping. Give the message to her when she is completely unoccupied, and make sure that she reads it immediately.

It has been Ovid's fate as a poet that his verses are often picked apart, with bits and pieces passing completely out of their original context into the world of Latin sayings and proverbs. In this elegiac love poem, the poet simply remarks to the maid that she better hurry up - in fact, they are losing time as he gives her the instructions. Yet when that remark - dum loquor, hora fugit - is removed from this narrative context, it is able to function perfectly well as a handy little Latin saying, reminding us of mortality and the passing of time, with no further trace whatsoever of the adventures of Ovid, his lover, and her maid.

So, with the clock silently ticking, here is today's proverb read out loud:

3029. Dum loquor, hora fugit.

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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