Nam et uxorem ducere et non ducere malum est.
(Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta Memorabilia, 7.2.1, adapted)
Pron = nahm eht ook-SOH-rehm DOO-keh-reh eht nohn DOO-keh-reh MAH-loom ehst.
Marrying is fraught with difficulties. Not marrying is fraught with difficulties.
Comment: Valerius Maximus acknowledges in his own ancient Roman way (literally = it is a bad thing to take a wife, and a bad thing not to take a wife) what every adult at some point, perhaps, comes to see.
Adults who enter into married life face the difficulties of making a life together. Even those who are successful at weaving together such a life find it difficult work.
Adults who live a single life face the difficulties of making a life on their own. Even those who live out the single life successfully find it difficult work.
The real wisdom in Valerius' words is the acknowledgment that the other path is not the better one or the easier one. The only thing left to say is that both paths, while difficult, may also yield a life of joy.
Bob Patrick
(Used with permission)
Latin Proverb of the Day Archive
(Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta Memorabilia, 7.2.1, adapted)
Pron = nahm eht ook-SOH-rehm DOO-keh-reh eht nohn DOO-keh-reh MAH-loom ehst.
Marrying is fraught with difficulties. Not marrying is fraught with difficulties.
Comment: Valerius Maximus acknowledges in his own ancient Roman way (literally = it is a bad thing to take a wife, and a bad thing not to take a wife) what every adult at some point, perhaps, comes to see.
Adults who enter into married life face the difficulties of making a life together. Even those who are successful at weaving together such a life find it difficult work.
Adults who live a single life face the difficulties of making a life on their own. Even those who live out the single life successfully find it difficult work.
The real wisdom in Valerius' words is the acknowledgment that the other path is not the better one or the easier one. The only thing left to say is that both paths, while difficult, may also yield a life of joy.
Bob Patrick
(Used with permission)
Latin Proverb of the Day Archive