Latin Via Proverbs: Home - Previous - Next

Group 94: Latin

1224. Omnia flumina intrant in mare.

1225. Exigui manant fontes in flumina magna.

1226. In caecorum regno regnant strabones.

1227. Fortes semper monstrant misericordiam.

1228. Divitiae mutant mores, raro in meliores.

1229. Acta exteriora indicant interiora secreta.

1230. Cum necessitate ne di quidem pugnant.

1231. Munera placant hominesque deosque.

1232. Multae preces non inflant saccum.

1233. Leoni mortuo et lepores insultant.

1234. Leonem mortuum etiam catuli morsicant.

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Study Guide

1224. All the streams enter into the sea. (You can find this in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.)

1225. Slight streams trickle into great rivers. (There is a nice sound-play in the Latin with manant and magna.)

1226. In the country of the blind, the cross-eyed men are kings. (There is a wide variety about sayings about the proverbial "country of the blind." H.G. Wells wrote an amazing short story inspired by this proverbial motif.)

1227. Brave people always show mercy. (The Latin fortis can be translated as "brave" or "strong" - the choice is yours, and the English words definitely have quite different connotations.) F

1228. Riches change character, rarely for the better. (I cannot think of a way to get the rhyme of mores-meliores in English, alas.)

1229. External deeds reveal internal secrets. (This is a phrase from Latin legal maxims, although it is definitely a principle than can be applied in daily life, too.)

1230. Not even the gods fight with necessity. (Watch out for the sneaky Latin construction ne..quidem, where the noun gets inserted in between the ne and the quidem.)

1231. Gifts satisfy both men and gods. (This is a saying adapted from Ovid.)

1232. Many prayers do not fill the money-bag. (This is something like the Latin equivalent of "money doesn't grow on trees.")

1233. Even the rabbits prance upon the dead lion. (Notice the use of et to mean "even, also," so in addition to the lion's usual enemies who would face him while living, the rabbits too are his enemies when dead. You can find this saying in Erasmus's Adagia, 4.7.82.)

1234. Even the puppies nip at the dead lion. (Notice the use of etiam to mean "even, also," so in addition to the lion's usual enemies who would face him while living, the puppies too are his enemies when dead.)