Wednesday, September 28, 2011

 

Domi Manere Oportet

Erasmus, Adages III i 13 (tr. R.A.B. Mynors):
Domi manere oportet belle fortunatum
He who is well off should stay at home

Οἴκοι μένειν δεῖ τὸν καλῶς εὐδαίμονα, He for whom all goes well should stay at home. Let the man who has adequate resources, if he wishes to live a happy life, live at home. Nowhere else will he find the same comfort and the same freedom. Let the man who is in want go abroad to find a living and venture a game of luck. So Menander: 'The man who is well off should stay at home / And keep his freedom, or be no longer free'. It can also be turned to quite another sense: The man who has a good conscience should not seek credit from other men's applause, but rest content with the sense of his own merit.

Domi manere oportet belle fortunatum
Οἴκοι μένειν δεῖ τὸν καλῶς εὐδαίμονα

i.e. Domi manendum est, cuncta cui sunt prospera.

Cui suppetit copia facultatum, is si velit felicem agere vitam, domi vivat. Nusquam enim vivitur commodius, nusquam liberius. Qui eget, peregrinando rem quaerat, ac fortunae experiatur aleam. Ita Menander:

Οἴκοι μένειν χρὴ καὶ μένειν ἐλεύθερον,
Ἢ μηκέτ᾿ εἶναι τὸν καλῶς εὐδαίμονα,


i.e.

Domi manere oportet, ut liber siet,
Aut liber esse desinat, qui dives est.


Potest in hunc quoque detorqueri sensum: Qui sibi bene conscius est, ne captet ex alienis laudibus gloriam, sed sit suarum virtutum conscientia contentus.


Pascal, Pensées 136 (tr. Stanley Appelbaum):
I've often said that all of man's unhappiness comes from one thing: not knowing how to remain calmly in one room.

J'ai découvert que tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre.
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