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Group 140: Latin

1807. Non in solo pane vivit homo.

1808. Etiam stultis acuit ingenium fames.

1809. Plures amicos mensa quam mens concipit.

1810. Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit.

1811. Amori finem tempus, non animus, facit.

1812. Sua munera mittit cum hamo.

1813. Semper deterior vehiculi rota perstrepit.

1814. Minimis ex verbis lis saepe maxima crescit.

1815. Ignis vero numquam dicit: sufficit.

1816. Vis sine consilio mole ruit sua.

1817. Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem.

Proverbs 1801-1810

Proverbs 1811-1820

Study Guide

1808. Hunger sharpens the wits even of fools. (You can find this in Phaedrus's story of the bear hunting crabs.)

1809. The table catches more friends than thoughts do. (I'm really not sure how to catch the wordplay between mensa...mens in English. The idea is that people will want to be your friend if they are well fed, regardless of any actual substantive thought. You will find this saying in Publilius Syrus.)

1810. Deference generates friends; the truth generates hatred. (You can find this saying in Terence.)

1811. Time, not the mind, puts an end to love. (In other words: you cannot just decide to stop loving someone. You will find this saying in Publilius Syrus.)

1812. He dispenses his gifts with a hook. (I wonder how many people really think about the idiom "I'm hooked" when they say it! Compare Erasmus's Adagia, 2.2.60, aureo piscari hamo, "to fish with a golden hook.")

1813. The worse wheel of the cart always screeches loudly. (Compare the English saying, "the squeaky wheel always gets the grease." Here the idea is that it is the least qualified member that talks loudest! Here is a rhyming variation: a peiore rota semper sunt murmura nota.)

1814. From the slightest words often grows an enormous lawsuit. (You can also find the saying in this form in Cato's distichs: Lis minimis verbis interdum maxima crescit.)

1815. The fire indeed never says: "It is enough." (This brilliant saying about the all-consuming nature of fire comes from the Biblical Book of Proverbs.)

1816. Force without planning collapses under its own weight. (Notice the elegant word order with ruit inserted in the noun phrase mole...sua.)

1817. By the sword it seeks peaceful calm, with liberty. (You can read a post about this Latin motto in the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)