in medio stat virtus

[Annakrutitskaya]

Hello!

Here it the phrase: In medio stat Virtus.

What is the right way to change this phrase so it sounds as Virtue does not lie in moderation? How to make the verb 'stat' negative?

Thank you!

 

[wandle]

Stat is made negative by the word non.
However, the resulting sentence, In medio non stat virtus, is rather uninformative.

'Virtue resides in the mean' is a pregnant saying: it sums up a philosophy.
'Virtue does not reside in the mean' merely negates a proposition, without offering anything positive.

 

[Annakrutitskaya]

Stat is made negative by the word non.
However, the resulting sentence, In medio non stat virtus, is rather uninformative.

'Virtue resides in the mean' is a pregnant saying: it sums up a philosophy.
'Virtue does not reside in the mean' merely negates a proposition, without offering anything positive.

Dear Wandle, thank you very much. What would be a correct translation for "Virtue does not lie in moderation"? I intend to say exactly what it means in English (it is not true that virtue lies in moderation; it will sound like a pun in the context and that is what I need) but I could not come up with the correct Latin expression.

I think that my first option does not reflect even the positive meaning "Virtue lies in moderation". So, what is the best way to make a negative statement?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Schimmelreiter]

Virtus a medio remota (est).

 

[Annakrutitskaya]

Virtus a medio remota (est).

Thank you! Though I sense that this phrase has a rather different meaning - I am not sure but sounds as "Virtue is remote from the middle" or "Virtue is moved away from the middle" - both are far from "Virtue does not lie in moderation".

Turned out to be not such an easy task for me

 

[Schimmelreiter]

"Virtue is remote from the middle" or "Virtue is moved away from the middle" - both are far from "Virtue does not lie in moderation"

Why? If the thing is not in the middle, then it's "away from" the middle.

 

[wandle]

Here we come up against my initial point. The literal meaning of in medio is 'in the middle'. At first sight, 'Virtue stands in the middle' does not tell us very much.

However, the saying in medio stat virtus is a well-known phrase that sums up a philosophical view which analyses forms of conduct into extremes either side of a mean, or middle, and which analyses human excellence or virtue in terms of realisation of potential. That is where the idea of moderation comes from. It is not immediately expressed by in medio, 'in the middle'.

Once we put the saying into the negative, it no longer expresses that philosophy: hence there is now no reason to attach that special significance to the phrase in medio and we are left with a relatively empty statement.

If you wish to make a statement which purposely denies the philosophical view expressed by in medio stat virtus, then a stronger form of declaration is needed, which denies the proposition as a whole, for example:

illud nego, virtutem in medio stare 'I deny the idea that virtue resides in the mean'.

 

[wandle]

I intend to say exactly what it means in English (it is not true that virtue lies in moderation; it will sound like a pun in the context and that is what I need)

Are you saying that you read 'lies' as a pun between 'rests' and 'speaks untruth', and you want to reproduce that pun in Latin?
I am afraid there is no Latin word with those two meanings.

 

[Schimmelreiter]

Virtus nonnumquam in utro


​(underlying idea: Virtue is sometimes in "one of two" rather than in the happy mean between them)

 

[Scholiast]

Salvete!

I am afraid there is no Latin word with those two meanings.

(# 8)

virtus non in medio, sed in mendaci?

Σ

 

[Schimmelreiter]

Do you mean in mendacio? Or perhaps ​in mendace?

 

[Scholiast]

Greetings, Schimmelreiter (# 11)

quod scripsi, scripsi. 3rd-declension adjectives have an ablative singular in -i, not -e as do the majority of nouns.

Σ

 

[Schimmelreiter]

What's Latin for embarrassing?

 

[Annakrutitskaya]

Hello everyone!

Thank you very much for this discussion!

Let me try one more time to explain what I would like to say - I do hope to be able to convey the meaning "Virtue does not lie in moderation" means that a person who says this phrase thinks that any moderation, i.e. avoiding excess or extremes in one's behaviour, opinions, love for different things, etc., doesn't create virtue, that it is not true that virtue is created by moderate behavior and perpetual self-restraint in pursue of a correct moderate behavior, desires, etc.

I am afraid that this phrase is not related to the well-known in medio stat virtus. Maybe, asking this question, I should have not mentioned the well-known Latin phrase. I am looking for a translation in the same concise form as the one in English

 

[Schimmelreiter]

Non gignit modus virtutem.

 

[ablativ]

virtus modestia vitae non creatur. ?

 

[Crumbs]

That would simply be:

“Non in medio stat virtus.”