May 15, 2007

Nemo sine sapientia beatus est

In English: Without wisdom, no man is happy.

Like yesterday's proverb, this saying uses the Latin nemo, ne-homo, "nobody, no man." You can find today's saying in Augustine's treatise on free will. Here is the complete sentence: Ut ergo constat nos beatos esse uelle, itanos constat esse uelle sapientes, quia nemo sine sapientia beatus est, "As therefore it is agreed that we want to be happy, so it is agreed that we want to be wise, because no man is happy without wisdom."

I was glad to include today's proverb because it fits in perfectly with a blog post I did over at my new ReligiousReading.com blog, providing an overview of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, an apocryphal book of the Bible. I'm doing a "Bible Book of the Week" series; you can learn more about that over at SchoolhouseWidgets.com.

The Book of Wisdom contains some beautiful passages in praise of wisdom, such as the following: Omnibus enim mobilibus mobilior est sapientia: attingit autem ubique propter suam munditiam. Vapor est enim virtutis Dei, et emanatio quaedam est claritatis omnipotentis Dei sincera, et ideo nihil inquinatum in eam incurrit: candor est enim lucis aeternae, et speculum sine macula Dei majestatis, et imago bonitatis illius, "For wisdom is more moving than all things that move: she penetrates everywhere because of her purity. For she is the breath of the power of God, a pure outpouring of the radiance of almighty God, and thus nothing polluted assails her, for she is the brightness of the eternal light, and a mirror without spot of God's majesty, and an image of his goodness."

So, with kudos to all the seekers of wisdom out there, here is today's proverb read out loud:

356. Nemo sine sapientia beatus est.

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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