Latin Via Proverbs: Home - Previous - Next

Group 157: Latin

2014. Sapit qui reputat.

2015. Lenis alit flammas, grandior aura necat.

2016. Et cum fortuna statque caditque fides.

2017. Deus superbis resistit, humilibus dat gratiam.

2018. Iracundiam qui vincit, hostem superat maximum.

2019. Perdit non donat, cui donat nisi est memor.

2020. Qui dat mutuum, amicum vendit, inimicum emit.

2021. Qui dat gallinam, aliquando recipit bovem.

2022. Qui diligit ranam, ranam putat esse Dianam.

2023. Qui lavat asinum, perdit aquam et saponem.

2024. Improbe Neptunum accusat qui iterum naufragium facit.

Study Guide

2014. Wise is the man who thinks twice. (This is a popular family motto.)

2015. A light breeze nourishes the flames; a bigger breeze kills them. (This saying can be found in Ovid.)

2016. And with fortune faith both stands and falls. (This saying is also from Ovid.)

2017. God opposes the proud; he bestows his favor on the humble. (You can find this in the Letter of James.)

2018. The person who conquers his anger conquers the greatest enemy. (You will find this in Publilius Syrus.)

2019. He wastes a gift rather than gives if he doesn't remember to whom he gives. (This saying is from Publilius Syrus.)

2020. The person who makes a loan sells his friend and buys an enemy. (Compare these similar sayings, "Mutua qui dederit, repentens sibi comparat hostem; Aes debitorem leve, gravius inimicum facit," etc.)

2021. Sometimes the one who gives a chicken gets an ox in return. (You could call this "barnyard karma.")

2022. The man who loves a frog thinks his frog is a goddess. (The Latin here has such a nice rhyme between the rana and the goddess Diana! This saying is from Odo's story of the frog and his son's slippers.)

2023. The man who washes his donkey wastes the water and the soap. (In Erasmus's Adagia, 3.3.39, you will find a similar saying:: Asini caput ne laves nitro.)

2024. The man who has made a second shipwreck unjustly blames Neptune. (You can find this saying in Publilius Syrus.)