# What's your Latin motto? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367 "2005-03-26T16:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NillyWilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@NillyWilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NillyWilly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/41 "2005-03-27T12:25:40Z")
Aliquot benevolentia, Magis melior, Nimis sufficio. Some is good, More is better, Too much is just enough. (Anyone want to help with the last line? It doesn’t transliterate well.) ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/42 "2005-03-27T12:26:52Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Apparently, there is no Latin for Everything in Moderation. _Est modus in rebus._ I personally prefer: _In taberna quando sumus, Non curamus quid sit humus, Sed ad ludum properamus, Cui semper insudamus._ ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/43 "2005-03-27T12:58:24Z")
I have many, here are a [few](http://www.topix.com/~sean/HUMOUR/Latin.html). I havn’t been able to translate my english motto: If you can’t be good be careful. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/44 "2005-03-27T13:07:50Z")
As a long time latin student some of your translations make me cringe but I shall bite my tongue and simply add my own motto, though Wile E’s is perhaps one of my favorite Latin phrases. **Adversus solem ne loquitor** - Don’t speak against the sun (don’t waste your time arguing the obvious) **Aquila non captat muscas** - The eagle doesn’t capture flies (don’t sweat the small stuff) **Audentes fortuna juvat** - Fortune favors the bold And along those lines… **Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum europe vincendarum** - Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/45 "2005-03-27T14:12:10Z")
_Semper ubi sub ubi._ Always wear underwear. Yeah, yeah, I know: What I’ve written is “Always where under where,” but hey - it’s a play on words, and it’s in Latin. How cool is that? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/46 "2005-03-27T14:20:27Z")
_Ars Gratia Artist_ “Guys in bands get all the tail!” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/47 "2005-03-27T14:46:20Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > in vino veritas Vino=Wine? veritas=Truth? How does that equal Everything in Moderation? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/48 "2005-03-27T14:47:30Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > Everything? Isn’t that a bit extreme? Yes, everything. Hell, even drinking too much water is not good for you. There are just different levels of moderation for everything. For me, a grain of cocaine is too much. But a gallon of water is not. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/49 "2005-03-27T15:04:49Z")
I guess “Fallujah delenda est” would be too dated too quickly. Forget I mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/50 "2005-03-27T15:45:03Z")
“Fallaces sunt rerum species” What? It _is_! Really! ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/51 "2005-03-27T16:24:40Z")
[There’s a building in Amsterdam that has “homo sapiens non urinat im ventum” engraved on it. Roughly translated it means: “intelligent men don’t piss into the wind”. :)] [pic](http://data.hollandcards.nl/cards/4/9/7/2/002794.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/52 "2005-03-27T19:54:47Z")
> [@Nocturne](#): > > _Nunquam non paratus_. It’s on my family crest and translates, I think to: “Never not prepared.” Maybe. I don’t really know Latin. Aha! Is your ancestry Scottish? That’s my husband’s family’s motto too! I’ve seen it translated as “Never unprepared!” For myself, I’ve always liked **Festina lente** – Make haste slowly. Or **Qui scit, facit.** – Who knows, does. Or even **Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.** – In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/53 "2005-03-27T21:07:24Z")
Mine is either **Mea mihi conscientia pluris est quam omnium sermo** - _My conscience means more to me than all speech. (Cicero)_ or **Me oportet propter praeceptum te nocere** - _I’m going to have to hurt you on principle_ **ivylass** : Here’s something close to what you wanted Medio tutissimus ibis - You will go safest in the middle. (Moderation in all things) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/54 "2005-03-27T22:06:36Z")
I’ve previously chosen the motto I would use if I were to seek a grant of arms: _Spem reducat_, “let hope be restored.” It’s a variant of _Spem reduxit_, the motto of my birth province of New Brunswick, where it refers to the Loyalists who fled there after the American Revolution. Above the shield (in Scottish fashion) I would place _Fortis et fidus_ (Strong and trusty), the motto of the Clan MacLachlan. For reference, here are the Latin mottos of the other Canadian provinces: British Columbia: _Splendor sine occasu_, “splendour without setting” (refers to its position on the West Coast) Alberta: _Fortis et liber_, “strong and free” Saskatchewan: _Multis e gentibus vires_, “from a diversity of peoples, strength” Manitoba: _Gloriosus et liber,_ “glorious and free” (are we seeing a trend here?) Ontario: _Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet_, “loyal she began, loyal she remains” Nova Scotia: _Munit haec et altera vincit_, “one [hand] defends and the other conquers” (refers to the province’s crest, two hands clasping each other, one in mail and the other naked) Prince Edward Island: _Parva sub ingenti,_ “the small under the protection of the great” Newfoundland and Labrador: _Quaerite primum regnum Dei_, “seek ye first the kingdom of God” (Two political divisions have mottos that aren’t in Latin: Quebec, _Je me souviens_ “I remember,” and Nunavut, _Nunavut sanginivut,_ “Our land, our strength.”) Canada’s motto is, of course, _A mari usque ad mare,_ “from sea to sea.” Here is a [list of mottos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_mottos) of countries and their subdivisions around the world. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/55 "2005-03-28T14:23:35Z")
```auto | | | \ / v ``` ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/56 "2005-03-28T15:05:28Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Vino=Wine? > > veritas=Truth? > > How does that equal Everything in Moderation? Sorry, I was trying to be cute, it’s supposed to be the “opposite” of ‘everything in moderation’. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/57 "2005-03-28T15:35:35Z")
I’ll go with **Rerum cognoscere causas** - To know the causes of things It suits my inquisitive nature. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/58 "2005-03-28T16:10:31Z")
_Penis subsequor_. On a related note: _Sit venia verbo_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/59 "2005-03-28T16:18:21Z")
Some college has as its motto one that I like: **Viam inveniemus aut faciemus** (“We Find the way, or we make it.”) A motto I came up with 'way back in high school Latin was: **quis cognovit, sed quis curan habet?** (“Who knows? But Who Cares?”) ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/60 "2005-03-28T20:11:24Z")
My personal favorite. _Pauci, sed matura_. Literally “few, but ripe”, it is the motto of a perfectionist. Attributed (and most fittingly so) to the mathematician Gauss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367.md?page=4)