Cicero quote from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography

[John Talstad]

Hello Scholars,

Thank you in advance for a translation of this quote From Cicero,
taken from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin:

"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."

Cordially,
John Talstad

[Johannes Patruus]

Post by John Talstad
Hello Scholars,
Thank you in advance for a translation of this quote From Cicero,
"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."
Cordially,
John Talstad

"O philosophy, thou guide of life, O thou explorer of virtue and expeller
of vice! One day well spent and in accordance with thy lessons is to be
preferred to an eternity of error." (Cic. Tusc. 5.2.5, tr. J.E.King)

Johannes

[Rolleston]

John Talstad wrote:
[...]

Post by John Talstad
"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."

My pathetic attempt (non-literal):

O Philosophy, life's guide.
O Explorer of virtue, Expeller of defects!
A day well spent under your precepts
To be set above eternal life in error.

These four lines have not been written on such a day!

The words are ill-chosen. No attention has been paid to
metre. The final two lines in particular are unsatisfactory.
It's the best I could come up with in a few short minutes.

See Cicero's Tusculan Disputations:

http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/tusc5.shtml#5

R.

[Ed Cryer]

Post by Rolleston
[...]

Post by John Talstad
"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."

O Philosophy, life's guide.
O Explorer of virtue, Expeller of defects!
A day well spent under your precepts
To be set above eternal life in error.
These four lines have not been written on such a day!
The words are ill-chosen. No attention has been paid to
metre. The final two lines in particular are unsatisfactory.
It's the best I could come up with in a few short minutes.

Still, it's better than Cicero's "O fortunatam natam me consule Romam!".

Ed

[Robert Stonehouse]

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 15:49:33 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Rolleston
[...]

Post by John Talstad
"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."

O Philosophy, life's guide.
O Explorer of virtue, Expeller of defects!
A day well spent under your precepts
To be set above eternal life in error.
These four lines have not been written on such a day!
The words are ill-chosen. No attention has been paid to
metre. The final two lines in particular are unsatisfactory.
It's the best I could come up with in a few short minutes.

Is the original verse? I cn't see it.

Post by Rolleston
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/tusc5.shtml#5
R.

[Rolleston]

Robert Stonehouse wrote:
[...]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
Is the original verse? I cn't see it.

Did I say it was?

Is it my lineation and reference to metre that bothers you?

Come on, old chap, spit it out.

R.

[Robert Stonehouse]

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 01:06:09 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Rolleston
[...]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
Is the original verse? I cn't see it.

Did I say it was?
Is it my lineation and reference to metre that bothers you?

Yes.

[Rolleston]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 01:06:09 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Rolleston
[...]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
Is the original verse? I cn't see it.

Did I say it was?
Is it my lineation and reference to metre that bothers you?

Yes.

Why?

R.

[Rolleston]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 01:06:09 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Rolleston
[...]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
Is the original verse? I cn't see it.

Did I say it was?
Is it my lineation and reference to metre that bothers you?

Yes.

Have you been infected by the Johnson virus?

R.

[Robert Stonehouse]

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 12:19:25 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Robert Stonehouse
On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 01:06:09 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Rolleston
[...]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
Is the original verse? I cn't see it.

Did I say it was?
Is it my lineation and reference to metre that bothers you?

Yes.

Why?

Maybe you are really into such abstruse things as prose rhythms, but a
reference to metre seemed unlikely unless the passage was verse.

[John Briggs]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 12:19:25 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Robert Stonehouse
On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 01:06:09 +0100, Rolleston

Post by Rolleston
[...]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
Is the original verse? I cn't see it.

Did I say it was?
Is it my lineation and reference to metre that bothers you?

Yes.

Why?

Maybe you are really into such abstruse things as prose rhythms, but a
reference to metre seemed unlikely unless the passage was verse.

I took the reference to metre as applying to the translation, which could
indeed be taken for verse.

[Rolleston]

Post by Robert Stonehouse
Maybe you are really into such abstruse things as prose rhythms, but a
reference to metre seemed unlikely unless the passage was verse.
I took the reference to metre as applying to the translation, which could
indeed be taken for verse.

The reference was indeed to the translation rather than the original.
When I wrote "No attention has been paid to metre", I was warning
against interpreting the translation as carefully constructed verse.

I did not set out to write verse. If it is verse, that's more or less
accidental. All I did was add a few line breaks and give "to" an
initial capital (the text would have looked odd otherwise with all
those capitals overhanging it). Having done these things, it seemed
sensible to warn people not to expect too much.

I don't see anything wrong with the idea of giving a verse translation
for the Cicero extract. At the very least, it crys out for more than a
plodding everyday translation. "In accordance with thy lessons" for
"ex praeceptis tuis" seems a tiny bit inelegant, I'd say, but I'm not
the one to give the world something better.

Thanks,

R.

[Rolleston]

John Talstad wrote:
[...]

Post by John Talstad
"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."

[John Harmar, Praxis Grammatica, http://tinyurl.com/3yyu]

ita dies unus ex religione actus, hoc est, divinae vitae,
toti aeternitati sine religione est anteponendus.

nam et imitatio virtutis aemulatio dicitur [Cic. Tusc. 4.8.17]

R.

[Clifton MEYNARD]

Post by Rolleston
ita dies unus ex religione actus, hoc est, divinae vitae,
toti aeternitati sine religione est anteponendus.
nam et imitatio virtutis aemulatio dicitur [Cic. Tusc. 4.8.17]
R.

I recently came across the following in Seneca's Ep. LXXVIII, 28 which
remided me of Cicero's passage.

'unus dis hominum eruditorum plus patet, quam imperitis longissima aetas'

Of course, when I first read the lines in the Tusc. Disp. they reminded me
of "Quia melior est dies una in atriis tuis super milia". Psalmus 84, 11

I prefer Seneca's best day over Cicero's or David's.

Clifton

[John Crinnion]

Post by John Talstad
Hello Scholars,
Thank you in advance for a translation of this quote From Cicero,
"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."
Cordially,
John Talstad

Cicero quoting from Bejamin Franklin, eh? Sure beats Homer quoting from Vergil!

[John Crinnion]

Post by John Talstad
Hello Scholars,
Thank you in advance for a translation of this quote From Cicero,
"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."
Cordially,
John Talstad

Cicero quoting from Benjamin Franklin, eh? Sure beats Homer quoting from Vergil!