* Notes & Translations *

Sum quod eris, fui quod sis
"I am what you will be; I was what you are." A reminder inscribed by the ancient Romans on tombstones.

Vires acquirit eundo.
"She acquires strength as she travels on." This describes Fama (Rumor or Gossip) which increases as it spreads; but the application to URL's works nicely too. -- Vergil, Aeneid, IV,175

Homines dum docent discunt.
"Men learn while they teach." -- Seneca, Epistolae, VII,7

Omnia praeclara tam difficilia, quam rara sunt.
"All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare." The ultimate line of the ultimate proposition of the ultimate book of Spinoza's Ethica.

Pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli.
"The fate of books depends on the discernment of the reader." -- Terentius Maurus

Cretenses semper mendaces
"Cretians are always liars." The phrase is excerpted from Paul's letter to Titus; the verse begins: "dixit quidam ex illis proprius ipsorum propheta Cretenses semper mendaces..." [i.e., "one of them a prophet of their own said Cretians are always liars..."]. Attributed to Epimenides, the passage provides a classic form of paradoxical self-reference.

Hoc opus, hic labor est.
"This is really work, this is really labor." Vergil uses these words to indicate the difficulty of returning to the overworld after the descent to Avernus. -- Vergil, Aeneid, VI,129

Hibernis hiberniores.
"More Irish than the Irish." Said of certain English settlers in Ireland.

Heu, vitam perdidi, operose nihil agendo.
"Alas, I have wasted my life, industriously doing nothing."