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Group 73: Latin

963. Qualis erus, talis et canis.

964. Qualis grex, talis rex.

965. Qualis homo, talis sermo.

966. Qualis sermo, talis vita.

967. Qualis vita, finis ita.

968. Qualis foliorum generatio, talis est et hominum.

969. Ut pater, ita filius; ut mater, ita filia.

970. Nudus tamquam ex matre.

971. Tamquam canis e Nilo.

972. Tam Marti quam Mercurio.

973. Tam similis quam lac lacti est.

974. Tam dispar quam aquilae columba.

975. Tam procul ex oculis, quam procul ex corde.

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Study Guide

963. As the master, so too the dog. (You can find the same thing about a man's servants, too: Qualis herus, talia servus.)

964. As the flock, so the king. (You can read a brief essay about this proverb at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

965. As the man, so the speech. (Compare this similar saying, Qualia verba viri, talis et ipse vir est, "such as a man's words are, so too is the man himself.")

966. As the speech, so the life. (You can see this variant form, Talis hominibus fuit oratio qualis vita, "such as people's speech was, so was their life," which you can find in Seneca.)

967. As the life, so its end. (Notice the nice rhyming quality! You can see variant forms, such as sicut vita, finis ita.)

968. As the growth of leaves, so too that of people. (This saying is a Latin imitation of a passage in Homer. Compare this similar expression: Qualis foliis generatio, talis et viris, "As the leaves have their growth, so too do men.")

969. As the father, so the son; as the mother, so the daughter. (Compare the similar English saying, "Like father, like son.")

970. Naked just as from out of his mother. (You can find this saying cited in Erasmus's Adagia, 2.8.44.)

971. Like a dog drinking from the Nile. (The word "drinking" does not appear in the Latin, but it can be supplied from the Aesop's fable about dogs who would have to drink from the Nile at a run, or risk being eaten by crocodiles. You can see this more clearly in a variant saying: Sicut canis ad Nilum, bibens et fugiens, "Like a dog at the Nile, drinking and running away.")

972. As much by Mars, as by Mercury. (This is the Gascoigne family motto, with Mars standing in for the god of war, and Mercury for the god of eloquence.)

973. As like as milk is like milk. (This saying is adapted from Plautus.)

974. As unlike as dove is to eagle. (Compare the similar saying, Aquila non parit columbam, "An eagle does not give birth to a dove.")

975. So far from the eyes, as far from the heart. (Compare the similar form, using a instead of ex: Tam procul ab oculis, quam procul a corde.)