Scito teipsum

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Recording also available at iPadio using this link.

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Today's saying is Scito teipsum. In English: "Know yourself."

I was prompted to include this as today's saying because of a very thought-provoking article I read about K-12 education, criticizing it for taking a one-size-fits-all approach, rather than an exploratory approach, where every student would have the opportunity, resources and encouragement they need to seek out the subjects that truly ignite their passions. The article contended that by making people college-ready rather than by making them self-aware, we wind up with many students in college who have no idea why they are there, since they have not gotten to learn anything about themselves in their many long years of schooling. Very true! The command to "Know yourself" in its Greek form (ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ) was supposedly inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and was invoked by the philosopher Socrates, among others. It's a piece of advice I would gladly inscribe on the front door of any school!

In terms of Latin grammar, this saying features the wonderful form of the imperative with the unfortunate name of the "future imperative." There is nothing really "future" about it - instead, the form has a kind of official grandness about it, something that is a command at all times, rather than a command for a single individual circumstance.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Scītō tēipsum.

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Ut ver dat florem, studium sic reddit honorem

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Recording also available at iPadio using this link.

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Today's saying is Ut ver dat florem, studium sic reddit honorem. In English: "As spring brings the blossom, so education yields public esteem."

I thought I would indulge myself in just one more rhyming proverb before leaving these medieval delights behind. Listen to the Latin again for the rhyme: Ut ver dat FLOREM, studium sic reddit HONOREM. It is very reassuring to think that just as naturally as the spring brings the flowers, so too will hard work and study result in public esteem or respect. The problem is that sometimes the winter is very long indeed, and very cold, and very hard, so that you can almost give up hope. But eventually spring does come - and you get an email from someone thanking you for a blog post or for a webpage. With the help of the Internet, I do experience a sense of public recognition from my work sometimes, and I delight in that just as much as in the flowers of spring. I hope every teacher and every student can experience some kind of similar reward, with a bouquet of public recognition at the end of their long labors!

Unlike yesterday's proverb, this one actually does scan as a hexameter line which, with its internal rhyme, allows it to achieve the status of a Leonine verse!

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Ut vēr dat flōrem, studium sic reddit honōrem.

(image source)

Non de ponte cadit qui cum sapientia vadit

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Recording also available at iPadio using this link.

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Today's saying is Non de ponte cadit qui cum sapientia vadit. In English: "He who walks with knowledge doesn't fall off the bridge."

I have to immediately explain that the charm of this proverb is that the Latin version rhymes, something that just doesn't come through in the English. I was prompted to choose the proverb because it shares a verb - Latin vadere, to go (as in English invade, evade, etc.) - with yesterday's proverb about the ant. More importantly, I chose it because I love rhyming proverbs. They are so fun and easy to remember. So, here's the Latin again: Non de ponte CADIT qui cum sapientia VADIT. So, enjoy the rhyme, and let the metaphor take care of the rest: in crossing the bridge of life, wisdom will give you a steady footing so that you don't fall off.

In terms of proverb style, this use of rhyme marks the proverb as medieval. For some reason, the ancient Romans were not enamored of rhyme, but it was much beloved by medieval authors, and many of the medieval Latin meters are rhyming meters, just as many of the medieval Latin proverbs rhyme, as this one does. This one, in fact, probably is aspiring to be a hexameter verse, a so-called Leonine verse - but as often in medieval Latin, the quantities are not quite right; the ablative ending of sapientiā means that it doesn't scan as a hexameter - but not worries: it still rhymes just fine!

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Nōn dē ponte cadit quī cum sapientiā vādit.

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Vade ad formicam, o piger

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Recording also available at iPadio using this link.

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Today's saying is Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias eius, et disce sapientiam. In English: "Go to the ant, you lazy-bones, and study her ways, and learn wisdom."

After yesterday's grand saying about the enormity of past, present, and future, I thought I would zoom in on something very small today: the ant, who gathers up her food, grain by grain, toting it back to the anthill. Just think of those grains as being knowledge you gather and store in your mind for the future! This saying comes from the Biblical Book of Proverbs, and it urges us to look to the ant for an example of hard work and industriousness. We tend to think of wisdom as some great and grand thing, but the tiny little ants show us what we need to do: work, and work together, in order to achieve great things. So, go to the ant, if you're feeling lazy, Vade ad formicam, o piger, watch what she does, considera vias eius, and learn wisdom, disce sapientiam.

In terms of proverb style, this is another one of those nice triple proverbs: vade ... considera ... disce, three nice imperatives, all in a row.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Vāde ad formīcam, ō piger, et consīderā viās eius, et disce sapientiam.

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Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futurum

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Recording also available at iPadio using this link.

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Today's saying is Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futurum. In English: "Correct the past, direct the present, detect the future."

The "triple" aspect of this proverb is really appealing to me! Both as a teacher and as a student, I feel like I am always looking to the past and the present and the future. Correcting past mistakes is how I can try to avoid making such mistakes again in the future. By directing the present, I try to steer its course towards the destination that is my goal. Finally, I have to try, somehow, to discern what is to come in the future, detecting the trends that could end up having quite an impact on my future present, so to speak! Finally, what I like best about this proverb is that it suggests there is a perfect kind of balancing act here; you need to spend equal time on past, present, and future, not getting completely hung up on just one of them. So, try to keep all three in mind if you can: Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futurum.

In terms of Latin, notice that there is a nice word play with corrige and rege, which have the same verbal stem, which I've tried to suggest with "correct" and "direct" in English. Plus, in the English, I've extended that echo still further, with "detect" the future, using a little bit of rhyme to emphasize the lovely tri-fold structure of the Latin saying.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futūrum.

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Week 4: Repetitio

So, here are the proverbs from this week, along with a link to each podcast:

• Diversa sunt hominum studia.
• Qui pauca legit, pauca scit.
• Disce legendo.
• Amat victoria curam.
• Multae manus onus levant.
• Menti quolibet ire licet.

Plus here are the previous proverbs:

• Ex labore dulcedo.
  
• Nihil sine labore.
• Minerva auxiliante, manum etiam admove.
• Hodie vivendum, omissa praeteritorum cura.
• Tamdiu discendum est homini, quamdiu nesciat.
• Sapientis non est bis labi in eodem lapide.
• Nemo solus satis sapit.
• Scientia potentia.
• Nulla dies sine linea.
• Sapere aude.
• Homo doctus in se divitias semper habet.
• Repetitio mater memoriae.
• Exercitatio optimus est magister.
  
• Doce ut discas.
  
• Dies diei discipulus.
  
• Errando discitur.
  
• Dubium sapientiae initium.
  
• Scribendo disces scribere.

I'll be back next week with more! :-)

Diversa sunt hominum studia

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Recording also available at iPadio using this link.

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Today's saying is Diversa sunt hominum studia. In English: "People's passions run in different directions."

In a previous post, I mentioned that I am opposed to anything like a "common curriculum" or "core knowledge" that everyone is supposed to acquire. That narrow-mindedness just does not fit with how I see the world of teaching and learning. The possibilities for teaching and learning are infinite, and we are in fact very lucky that different people are interested in different things. How boring the world would be if everyone studied the same things and we all had the same knowledge! Because we all study different things, our collective knowledge keeps on growing. The greater the number of things people study and learn, the wiser our society will be as a whole. Diversity benefits us all: Diversa sunt hominum studia.

In terms of Latin vocabulary, that word studium is worth careful attention. You can translate it with the English word "study, field of study," but don't forget that the Latin word has a much wider range of meaning than the English derivative. The noun is derived from the Latin verb studere, which means "to be eager, to be zealous, to desire," so a studium is not just schoolwork in Latin: it is the passion you feel that inspires you to learn more! Take a look at the Lewis & Short dictionary entry for more details.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Dīversa sunt hominum studia.

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