the root of evil is desire

Smidda

New Member

Having looked through tryin to find me a suitable phrase for a tatoo in latin i came across the following

"radix malorum est cupiditas" - the root of evil is desire

however after further research i found it didnt exactly mean that so if anyone could help is there a better way to say "the root of evil is desire" or would it just roughly translate to the same as above?
 

Smidda

New Member

and could anyone also confirm the following -


sapiens nihil affirmat quod non probat - a wise man states as true nothing he does not prove
 

Iynx

Consularis

  • Consularis

Location:
T2R6WELS, Maine, USA
As far as I know, the earliest use of this commonplace was in 1 Timothy, vi: 10:

Radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas...

"Desire is indeed the root of all evils".

It is not explicit in this Latin, but it is clear from the context that Paul is talking specifically about desire for money. But Cupiditas can also mean strong desire for power and place ("ambition"), or it can mean sexual desire, especially immoderate sexual desire. However the saying is so familiar that a reader is likely to read in the monetary angle.

Do I understand that you wish to specify sexual desire? Libido is much more likely to be read as sexual, but in Latin it too admits of non-sexual interpretations. You may need to say cupiditas sexualis.

If you are seriously considering a tattoo based on any Latin gleaned here, you should read and consider the Disclaimer at the head of this Section.
 

Iynx

Consularis

  • Consularis

Location:
T2R6WELS, Maine, USA
Smidda dixit:
and could anyone also confirm the following -

sapiens nihil affirmat quod non probat - a wise man states as true nothing he does not prove
Consider it confirmed. Sometimes one sees the last word as probet, which is subjunctive-- the single letter change makes the sense of the last phrase something like "he might not prove".

Now I admire the concept. I remember a science-fiction novel (Heinlein?) in which a guild of professional truthtellers were used to witness and remember things that needed to be witnessed and remembered. They (supposedly) never inferred anything; if you asked one what color a house was she might say "white-- on this side". Sapiens nihil etc. is a good saying-- if one doesn't examine it too closely.

But I am a man of the West, and a child of Euclid, and of Aristotle, and of Aquinas, and I cannot help observing that this is one of those Wise Old Sayings that is simultaneously very wise and very stupid. If we have no unproven assertions-- no postulates, no common notions-- then we can prove nothing at all, and the wise man is perforce silent.

Furthermore, this saying is internally contradictory. It's like saying "There is nothing so useless as a general maxim" or "I am lying". This arises, of course, from the circumstance that a man saying "Sapiens nihil affirmat quod non probat has himself just made an assertion that he cannot prove!

And while we're on the subject: still waters don't run at all, do they?
 

Smidda

New Member

yes i really like the latter one - sapiens nihil affirmat quod non probat - and would consider having it inked although whether i get the courage to do so is another matter..

just wanted it confirming that it means exactly that tho

thanks you for your time,,

regards

Scott
 
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