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Group 151: Latin

1934. Species decipit.

1935. Spes alit et fallit.

1936. Spes alit agricolas.

1937. Spes una hominem nec morte relinquit.

1938. Dies dolorem minuit.

1939. Dolorem dies longa consumit.

1940. Longa dies molli saxa peredit aqua.

1941. Quasi nix tabescit dies.

1942. Concordia res crescunt.

1943. Secundae res felicem, magnum faciunt adversae.

Proverbs 1931-1940

Proverbs 1941-1950

Study Guide

1934. Appearance deceives. (Compare the English saying, "Appearances can be deceiving." The Latin word species has given rise to a wide range of meanings in English, from the neutral "species" or "specific" to the positive "special" to the negative "specious.")

1935. Hope nourishes and disappoints. (I was not able to find a pair of English words that capture the same kind of nice echo as Latin alit and fallit.)

1936. Hope nourishes the farmers. (You can find this in Tibullus.)

1937. Hope alone does not abandon a person, not even in death. (This is one of Cato's distichs. Compare the similar saying: Spes ultima dea.)

1938. The passage of time diminishes grief. (You can see this used in Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. It's a good example of how Latin dies means not just "day" but the passage of time more generally. Compare the English idiom: "Back in my day...")

1939. A long time puts an end to grief. (You can find this saying in Seneca.)

1940. The long passage of time eats through rocks by means of soft water. (The elegant word order is a clue that this is a portion of a line of poetry; you can find it in Tibullus, as the pentameter line in an elegiac couplet.)

1941. Like snow, the day melts away. (You can find this saying in Plautus.)

1942. With likemindedness, businesses prosper. (For a delightful illustration of this motto, see the Aesop's fable about The Farmer and His Sons.)

1943. Prosperous affairs make a many successful; adverse affairs make him great. (There are many sayings built on the ups and down of fortunes, such as this saying from Horace, ingenium res adversae nudare solent, celare secundae.)

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