It is not who I am, but what I do that defines me

A

Anonymous

Guest

hey there

I've been reading thru the site and have seen some good ideas for tattoos,but there's nothing that i really want,im still unsure but was wondering if your could translate ''its not who i am, but what i do that defines me'' ? would be a big help and its male,dont no wether that helps?

thanks alot for your time,hope you can help

cheers
 

deudeditus

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
California
don't forget to read the disclaimer (sorry I don't have the link).

haud est (id) qui sum, facta autem mea quae me discribit.

my best shot considering that i have about III minutes before I'm late for clase, but this was just to get the ball running, others will come up with more refined translations, and maybe explain the 'facta mea' thing as opposed to a literal translation. I also have my doubts about the beginning est haud (id) quod sum....

... hope the ball is rolling, 'cuz the reloj sure is!

sum foras 8)

-Jon
 

deudeditus

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
California
damn! discribunt..

rursus foras

-Jon
 

Iynx

Consularis

  • Consularis

Location:
T2R6WELS, Maine, USA
I think this is very tough; I certainly could not have come up with so good an answer so quickly, Jon.

The main criticism I might have is that your version (which for the benefit of the OP I will explain means literally "It is not who I am but my deeds that...") loses the effect of the two parallel clauses in the OP's English ("...not who I am but what I do...").

It seems to very difficult to use "who I am" as a subject in Latin as we do in English, and if we do, surely the verb should be singular and first person? We slur over this sort of thing in English, but are more careful in Latin (Agnus Dei, qui tollis (not tollit) peccata mundi...).

Yet for your "deeds" of course we would want plural and third person.

We might perhaps resolve the difficulty by the nominal use of the two infinitives:

Agere haud esse describit me.

Usually infinitives are so used mostly with copulae, but there are exceptions, and this "feels" OK to me (for whatever that's worth).

Can we add meum, either just before the agere or before both infinitives? I am not willing to stretch matters so far; I can't say exactly what would be wrong with doing so, but it doesn't sound idiomatic to me. I would happily accept such a usage if anybody can find a similar phrase in an authoritative source.

I might have succumbed to the temptation to use definito (especially with so little time to work). But I agree that your describo is better.

Bottom line? My recommendation is

Agere haud esse describit me

which for the benefit of the OP I will explain means (more or less) "It is doing, not being, that defines me". What do you think of that Chazzer? Jon? Others?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest

hey lynx,yeah thanks alot, i like the sound of that, thanks for taking the time to help out, really appreciate it, thanks guys will speak to ya soon!
cheers again
 
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