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Group 96: Latin

1250. Fletus aerumnas levat.

1251. Manus manum fricat.

1252. Manus manum lavat.

1253. Lingua manu discrepat.

1254. Diem vesper commendat.

1255. Dies levat luctum.

1256. Amor metu vacat.

1257. Sensim amor sensus occupat.

1258. Mores indicat vultus.

1259. Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque.

1260. Regum fortuna casus praecipites rotat.

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Study Guide

1250. Weeping alleviates troubles. (This is a saying found in Seneca's Trojan Women.)

1251. Hand rubs hand. (You can find this saying in Erasmus's Adagia, 1.1.33. A fuller form of this saying is Manus manum fricat; da aliquid et aliquid cape, "One hand rubs another: give something and something take.")

1252. Hand washes hand. (A fuller form of this saying is Manus manum lavat, et digitus digitum, "hand washes hand, and finger finger.")

1253. His tongues is at odds with his hand. (In other words, what he says and what he does are not the same. You can find this saying in Apuleius's Apology.)

1254. The evening commends the day. (Compare the English saying "Praise day at night, and life at the end.")

1255. The day alleviates grief. (You can see Cicero protesting that this proverbial saying does not hold true for him: dies autem non modo non levat luctum hunc sed etiam auget, "The day does not only not lighten grief, but rather increases it.")

1256. Love is free from fear. (This saying is adapted from Ovid.)

1257. Slowly but surely, love takes over the senses. (The word play between the adverb sensim and the noun sensus is something I cannot manage to capture in English.)

1258. The face reveals character. (Notice that the singular verb, indicat, makes it clear that vultus, singular, is the subject, with mores as the object.)

1259. The Roman world stands upon her ancient customers and her men. (This saying can be found in the fragments of the poet Ennius.)

1260. Fortune spins the headlong downfalls of the kings. (You can read a brief essay about this proverb at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)