We all know these phrases well and constantly use them in everyday speech. But have our favorite quotes always mean the same as now? Here are some examples of how much the meaning of a statement can be distorted if you do not check the original source in time.
About the dead, it's either good or nothing
"About the dead, either it is good, or nothing but the truth" - the saying of the ancient Greek politician and poet Chilo from Sparta (6th century BC), cited by the historian Diogenes Laertius (3rd century AD) in his work “Life, Teachings and Opinions of Glorious Philosophers”.
Love has no age
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A quote from "Eugene Onegin", which is often used to explain the passionate feelings of people in years or with a large age difference. However, it is worth reading the entire stanza, it becomes clear that Alexander Sergeevich had something completely different in mind:
Love has no age;
But to young, virgin hearts
Her impulses are beneficial
Like spring storms in the fields:
In the rain of passions they freshen
And they are renewed and ripen -
And the mighty life gives
And lush color and sweet fruit.
But at a late and barren age, At the turn of our years
Sad trail of passion:
So cold autumn storms
The meadow is turned into a swamp
And they lay bare the forest around.
Live and learn
A very famous phrase, which can be heard from literally every teacher and which they like to cite as an argument to substantiate the importance of studying a particular subject, in fact, is incomplete and is often mistakenly attributed to Lenin.
The author of the original phrase is Lucius Annei Seneca, and it sounds like this: "Live forever - learn how to live."
The people are silent
The famous "the people are silent" is considered to be an image of the tacit obedience of the Russian people, ready to accept any decision of the government and any government in general. However, in Pushkin it is exactly the opposite. The poem ends with the new tsar being presented to the people after the bloody massacre of the Godunovs.
MOSALSKY: People! Maria Godunova and her son Theodore poisoned themselves with poison. We saw their dead bodies.
The people are silent in horror.
MOSALSKY: Why are you silent? shout: long live Tsar Dimitri Ivanovich!
The people are silent."
End justifies the means
The full version of the phrase, the author of which is the founder of the Jesuit order Ignatius de Loyola: "If the goal is the salvation of the soul, then the end justifies the means."
The truth is in wine
The famous saying of Pliny the Elder "Truth in wine." In fact, the phrase has a continuation "and health in the water." Original "In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas".
Life is short, art is forever
The phrase "Ars longa, vita brevis" in Russian has gone even further from the original than in the Latin translation, and is now understood as something like "manuscripts do not burn." In fact, initially this is a quote from Hippocrates: "life is short, the path of the arts is long, the opportunity is fleeting, the experience is deceiving, judgment is difficult." That is, simply a discussion about the complexity of medicine, for the study of which the whole life is not enough. In the original, instead of the word Ars ("art") there is the Greek word τέχνη, which is not necessarily "art", but equally well "craft" or "skill".
Religion is opium for people
A phrase popular with atheists is also taken out of context. Karl Marx wrote in the introduction to his work “To the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law” (1843): “Religion is the air of an oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, as well as the soul of a soulless situation. Just as she is the spirit of soulless order, religion is opium for people! That is, religion reduces the pain of social life in an inhuman society.
Exception proves the rule
This phrase, which is obviously illogical, is used completely incorrectly. This expression was formed as a paraphrase from the speech of Cicero in defense of Lucius Cornelius Balbus the elder. They accused him of having obtained Roman citizenship illegally. The case was heard in 56 BC. e.
Balbus was a native of Hades (modern name Cadiz), served under Pompey, with whom he became friends and was friends; Pompey and was the sponsor of his citizenship. The reason for the accusation was, as in most high-profile cases of that time, political. Although Balbus himself was active politically, the blow was certainly directed at the triumvirs of the First Triumvirate (Caesar, Crassus and Pompey).
Not only Cicero, but also Pompey and Crassus spoke out in defense of Balbus. The case was won. In his speech, Cicero makes this argument. In some interstate agreements on the mutual recognition of Rome with neighboring countries, there was a clause clearly excluding dual citizenship: the inhabitants of those countries could not become Roman citizens without first giving up their own. Balba's citizenship was dual; this was the formal side of the charge. Cicero says that since there is such an exception in some agreements, those agreements in which it does not exist are subject to the opposite rule, namely, they allow dual citizenship. In other words, if there is an exception, then there must be a rule from which the exception is made, even if this rule has never been explicitly formulated. Thus, the existence of exceptions confirms the existence of a rule,from which these exceptions are made.
Not exceptions confirm the rule, and the existence of exceptions confirms the existence of the rule!
