The use of aphorisms in colloquial speech is so common that interlocutors often do not even think whose exact statement they used to embellish their speech. It turns out that most of them belong to people who lived in Ancient Greece or Rome, as well as philosophers of the Middle Ages.
Latin aphorisms are most often used when they want to give weight to their words. People of that era knew how to observe the world and what fills it, and leave their opinion on this matter in brief statements.
Wisdom of the ancients
The civilization of the ancient Greeks and Romans is characterized by the development of sciences, culture and art. A large amount of evidence that people of that time were highly educated has survived to this day. As is typical of all civilizations, they have a beginning, a rise and a fall.
What the ancient Sumerians knew about space, the exact sciences and the universe, they rediscoveredGreeks followed by the Romans. When their civilization fell into decay, the dark Middle Ages began, when sciences were banned. Scientists had to restore a lot, including lost knowledge. No wonder they say that everything new is a well-forgotten old.
The same happened with the statements of ancient philosophers and historical figures. Their worldly wisdom and observation forever imprinted Latin aphorisms. With the translation into Russian, they have become common expressions, helping either to convey to the listeners the importance or accuracy of information, or to show the speaker's erudition and his sense of humor.
For example, when someone makes a mistake, they often say that it is human nature to err, not knowing that these words belong to the Roman orator Marcus Annaeus Seneca the Elder, who lived in 55-37 BC. e. Many famous personalities of antiquity left behind aphorisms that have become everyday expressions in our time.
Caesar's sayings
One of the brightest personalities of his time, who has become famous for all time, is Gaius Julius Caesar. This talented politician and great commander was a determined and courageous man who left behind statements that reveal his personality.
For example, his phrase Alea jacta est (the die is cast) while crossing the Rubicon during a military campaign led him to complete power over the Roman Empire. For subsequent generations, it began to mean that there is no way back, and it is pronounced when they decide on something.
Caesar's Latin aphorisms are short but very informative. When in the next campaign he defeated the king of the Bosporan kingdom Farnak, he described it with just three words “Veni, vidi, vici” (came, saw, conquered).
The well-known phrase "Every blacksmith of his own destiny" is the life credo of this great man.
Aphorisms of Cicero
Mark Tullius Cicero lived from 106 to 43 AD. BC e. and for 63 years he managed to visit a statesman, and a politician, and an orator, and a philosopher. An unusually gifted person, he left behind such wise works as "On the Laws", "On the State" and others.
Cicero's Latin aphorisms have been translated into other languages and are famous all over the world. His expression "O times, o morals" became winged, especially among people who are always dissatisfied with everything. No less famous is his statement "Habit is second nature." It has become so commonplace that many of those who mention it would be surprised to know that they are quoting an ancient Roman philosopher.
The infamous phrase "A bad peace is better than war", uttered during times of war and truce, also belongs to Cicero.
Saints of Marcus Aurelius
Latin aphorisms about life reveal to modern people the worldview of long-dead philosophers and statesmen. For example, the philosophical notes of Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor who lived from 121-180 AD. e., characterize him as an intelligent and insightful person.
Marcus Aureliusbelonged to the Stoics and was not only an emperor, but also a philosopher. He wrote down his thoughts about the time in which he lived in a kind of diary, which he called "Alone with myself." He was not going to make his thoughts public, but history judged otherwise. Now anyone who wants to know whose phrases he uses in his speech can get acquainted with them.
"Our life is what we think about it" - many personal growth coaches and psychologists say, quoting the wise emperor. It is amazing that a person who lived 2000 years ago knew this, and that today people are being taught to understand this phrase for money so that they change their lives.
Ut si diem mortis meae and Dum nemo non sentit felix felicis - “Live as if you must die now”, “No person is happy until he considers himself happy” - these are Latin aphorisms, with the translation of which not only modern philosophers will agree, but just people who reflect on their lives. This is how the Emperor of Ancient Rome Marcus Aurelius spoke.
Aphorisms of Seneca by Lucius Annaeus
The great educator of Nero, philosopher, poet and politician, Seneca left to his descendants numerous philosophical and literary works, imbued with his wisdom and understanding of the processes taking place in life.
The most famous Latin aphorisms written by him are still relevant today. “Poor is not the one who has little, but the one who wants more” - one of his sayings, which is said when talking about a greedy person, a corrupt official or a politician.
SoSince the time of Seneca, little has changed in human nature. “If you can’t change the world, change your attitude towards this world” - such Latin aphorisms, translated into numerous languages, are spoken today by politicians, psychologists, homegrown philosophers and those involved in personal growth. In most cases, no one remembers the name of the author of these lines.
This is the sad fate of all the great people who left behind eternal sayings.
Aphorisms in everyday speech
How often can you hear a wise saying from relatives and friends, politicians and television announcers, psychologists and old women on a bench at the entrance? Every day. Repeating Latin aphorisms about love, life or political events in the country, people each time say what ancient philosophers were thinking about more than 2000 years ago.
"Better late than never" - they say today to those who are late, uttering the phrase said by the author of the "History of Rome" Titus Livius.
When troubles happen and a friend comes to the rescue, in different countries people say that a friend is known in need, each time confirming with his life experience the words of Petronius the Arbiter, author of the novel "Satyricon".
But not only in Ancient Rome there were philosophers and sages who left their statements to posterity, which are relevant even after so many centuries. The Middle Ages also had thinkers worthy of being repeated.
The Wisdom of the Middle Ages
Although in many history books the Middle Ages are called gloomy, bright people lived at that timeminds that left behind a significant legacy.
Many philosophers and politicians learned wisdom from their ancient predecessors, but the experience of past centuries did not prevent them from making new discoveries. For example, the great mathematician, philosopher, physicist and metaphysician from France, René Descartes, was the founder of a philosophy based on the duality of soul and body.
Among his famous sayings are "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito, ergo sum) and "Doubt everything" (Quae quaestio). He was the first to determine that there was a connection between the lifeless body and the soul.
The great Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza left behind vital statements that are relevant to this day. For example, “As soon as you imagine that you are unable to do a certain thing, from that moment on, its implementation becomes impossible for you” (Quondam posse putes fungi circa negotia eius tibi nunc turpis impossibilis evadat). This is exactly what today's personal growth coaches teach when working on consciousness.
Great minds devoted their thoughts not only to philosophy and politics, but also to love and friendship.
Aphorisms about friendship
Friendship has been valued at all times. Poems and poems were dedicated to her, the best minds of mankind spoke about her. Latin aphorisms about friendship that have survived to this day:
- "Without true friendship, life is nothing" - said Cicero;
- "A friend is one soul living in two bodies" - Aristotle's words;
- "Friendship ends where mistrust begins" - believedSeneca;
- "A friendship that ceased never really began," Publius believed.
People of that time were emotionally not much different from representatives of the 21st century. They were friends, hated, betrayed and fell in love just like people have done at all times.
Latin sayings about love
This wonderful feeling was sung both at the time when there was no writing, and after it appeared. They wrote about him before the beginning of our era, and they write about him today. From the wise men of bygone times, Latin aphorisms about love remained, with the translation into Russian of which many are familiar.
- "The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love" - considered Terence;
- "Nothing is impossible for a lover" - the words of Cicero;
- "If you want to be loved, love" - said Seneca;
- "Love is a theorem that must be proven every day" - only Archimedes could say that.
This is a small fraction of great sayings about love, but at all times every lover himself became a sage and discovered new facets of this feeling for himself.
