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Latin was an influential language, and there are many proverbs in Latin which became famous world wide. What are your favourite Latin phrases?
Here is a good one:
Homo homini lupus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_homini_lupusHomo homini lupus est is a Latin phrase meaning "man is a wolf to [his fellow] man." First attested in Plautus' Asinaria (195 BC, "lupus est homo homini") , the phrase is sometimes translated as "man is man's wolf", which can be interpreted to mean that man preys upon man. It is widely referenced when discussing the horrors of which humans are capable.
A few others:
Et tu, Brute?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_tu,_Brute%3F"Et tu, Brute?" (pronounced [ɛt ˈtuː ˈbruːtɛ]) is a Latin phrase often used poetically to represent the last words of Roman dictator Julius Caesar to his friend Marcus Brutus at the moment of his assassination. While it can be variously translated as "Even you, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", "Thou too, Brutus?" or "And thou, Brutus?," the most literal translation is "And you, Brutus?". Immortalized by Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1599), the quotation is widely used in Western culture to signify the utmost betrayal.
Ars longa, vita brevis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_longa,_vita_brevisArs longa, vita brevis is a Latin translation of an aphorism coming originally from Greek. The Latin quote is often rendered in English as Art is long, Life is short.
The aphorism quotes the first two lines of the Aphorismi by the Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The familiar Latin translation Ars longa, vita brevis reverses the order of the original lines.
The most common and significant caveat made regarding the saying is that "art" (Latin: ars, Ancient Greek: τέχνη (techne)) originally meant "technique, craft" (as in The Art of War), not "fine art".
Delenda est Carthago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthago_delenda_est"Carthago delenda est", or "Delenda est Carthago" (English: "Carthage must be destroyed") (or the fuller "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem delendam esse" or "Ceterum autem censeo Carthaginem delendam esse" (English: "Furthermore, (moreover) I consider that Carthage must be destroyed") is a Latin oratorical phrase which was in popular use in the Roman Republic in the 2nd Century BC during the latter years of the Punic Wars against Carthage, by the party urging a foreign policy which sought to eliminate any further threat to the Roman Republic from its ancient rival Carthage, which had been defeated twice before and had a tendency after each defeat rapidly to rebuild its strength and engage in further warfare. It represented a policy of the extirpation of the enemies of Rome who engaged in aggression, and the rejection of the peace treaty as a means of ending conflict. The phrase was most famously uttered frequently and persistently almost to the point of absurdity by the Roman senator Cato the Elder (234-149 BC), as a part of his speeches.
Modern usage
The phrase is sometimes adapted in modern usage, as a learned reference to total warfare. In 1673 the English minister Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury revived the phrase in the form "Delenda est Carthago" in a famous speech before Parliament during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, comparing England to Rome and the Dutch Republic to Carthage. Ben Klassen, the founder of the anti-Semitic Church of the Creator, adopted the phrase for his movement, modifying it to Delenda est Judaica, "Judaism must be destroyed". The phrase was used as the title for Alan Wilkins' 2007 play on the Third Punic War.
Another, less martial, use in order to emphasise to third parties the strength of one's opinion about a perceived necessary course of action is to add either at the beginning or the end of a statement the two opening words "Ceterum censeo..."
Cui bono?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cui_bonoCui bono ("To whose benefit?", literally "as a benefit to whom?", a double dative construction), also rendered as Cui prodest, is a Latin adage that is used either to suggest a hidden motive or to indicate that the party responsible for something may not be who it appears at first to be.
Commonly the phrase is used to suggest that the person or people guilty of committing a crime may be found among those who have something to gain, chiefly with an eye toward financial gain. The party that benefits may not always be obvious or may have successfully diverted attention to a scapegoat, for example.
The Roman orator and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero, in his speech Pro Roscio Amerino, section 84, attributed the expression cui bono to the Roman consul and censor Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla:
“L. Cassius ille quem populus Romanus verissimum et sapientissimum iudicem putabat identidem in causis quaerere solebat 'cui bono' fuisset.
The famous Lucius Cassius, whom the Roman people used to regard as a very honest and wise judge, was in the habit of asking, time and again, 'To whose benefit?”
Another example of Cicero using "cui bono" is in his defence of Milo, in the Pro Milone. He even makes a reference to Cassius: "let that maxim of Cassius apply".
Hannibal ante portas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HannibalHannibal became such a figure of terror that whenever disaster struck, the Roman Senators would exclaim "Hannibal ante portas" ("Hannibal is at the gates!") to express their fear or anxiety. This famous Latin phrase became a common expression that is often still used when a client arrives through the door or when one is faced with calamity.
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