Latin Via Proverbs: Home - Previous - Next

 

Group 146: Latin

 

1875. Non faciunt meliorem equum aurei freni.

1876. Corrumpunt bonos mores colloquia prava.

1877. Dum abbas apponit tesseras, ludunt monachi.

1878. Ubique potentiores pauperiores opprimunt.

1879. Maioresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae.

1880. Minores leporem canes reperiunt, maiores capiunt.

1881. Non capiunt lepores tympana rauca leves.

1882. Non procul a proprio stipite poma cadunt.

1883. Arbore de dulci dulcia poma cadunt.

1884. Imbribus obscuris succedunt lumina solis.

1885. Occurrunt homines, nequeunt occurrere montes.

1886. Adversum necessitatem ne di quidem resistunt.

 

Proverbs 1871-1880

Proverbs 1881-1890

 

Study Guide

 

1875. Golden reins do not make a better horse. (You can read a brief essay about this proverb at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

 

1876. Bad conversations corrupt good characters. (You can find this saying in many forms, and it even shows up in Pascal!)

 

1877. When the abbot sets up the checker board, the monks play. (In other words, when the abbot sets such an example by his own behavior, of course the monks will imitate it!)

 

1878. Everywhere, the richer people oppress those who are poorer. (You can find this saying in Bernard of Clairvaux.)

 

1879. Longer shadows are cast from the taller hills. (This saying is adapted from Vergil.)

 

1880. The smaller dogs find the hares; the big dogs grab them. (I think I would prefer to be a one of the big dogs!)

 

1881. The noisy drums cannot catch the light-footed hares. (This is a bit like the English saying about "catching more flies with honey." If you make a loud noise, you are going to scare those rabbits away.)

 

1882. Not far from its own trunk do the apples fall. (Compare the English saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.")

 

1883. From a sweet tree fall sweet fruits. (This motif of "by their fruits you shall know them" has Biblical echoes too, of course.)

 

1884. The light of the sun follows the shadowy storms. (You can find this saying discussed in Tosi 1706.)

 

1885. Men can run into each other; mountains cannot do so. (This is a saying that you can find in a variety of forms, which express the same basic idea but from various perspectives, for example, mons cum monte non miscebitur or, less cryptically, mons cum monte non miscebitur, pares cum paribus.)

 

1886. Against necessity not even the gods can resist. (You can find this saying in all manner of forms, for example, Necessitatem ne dii quidem superant..)