Imitate time. It destroys slowly. It undermines, wears, loosens, separates. It does not uproot.
[Imitez le temps: il détruit tout avec lenteur; il mine, il use, il déracine, il détache, et n’arrache pas.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 14 “Des Gouvernements [On Governments],” ¶ 31 (1793; 1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 199]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Imitate time: it destroys every thing slowly; it undermines, it wears away, it detaches, it does not wrench.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 12]Let time be your example; it destroys everything slowly; it undermines, wears out, uproots, detaches, and never tears away.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 13, ¶ 10]Imitate time. It destroys slowly. It eats away, it uses up, it uproots, it detaches and does not rip apart.
[tr. Auster (1983), 1793 entry]
Quotations about:
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The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling.
[Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed saepe cadendo.]
Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Latin proverb
Alt. trans.:
- "The rain dints the hard stone, not by violence, but by oft-falling drops."
- "The drop of rain maketh a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling."
- "The drop hollows out the stone not by strength, but by constant falling."
- "The drop hollows the stone, not with force but by falling often."
- "Dripping water hollows out the stone not by force, but by continually falling."
Some famous usages include Lucretius, De rerum natura, Book 6, l. 312: "The ring on the finger is tapered by being worn, the dripping water hollows out the stone, the plow is subtly worn by the impact of the fields." [anulus in digito subter tenuatur habendo, stilicidi casus lapidem cavat, uncus aratri, ferreus occulte decrescit vomer in arvis]
Similarly Ovid, Ex Ponte, 4.10.5: "The drop hollows out the stone, the ring is worn by use, and the curved ploughshare is rubbed away by the pressure of the earth." [Gutta cavat lapidem, consumitur annulus usu, et teritur pressa vomer aduncus humo.]
Made famous in English by Hugh Latimer, "Seventh Sermon before Edward VI" (1549). Similarly, John Lyly, Euphues (1580): "The soft droppes of rain perce the hard marble; many strokes overthrow the tallest oaks."
I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.
Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) American actress, model [b. Betty Joan Perske]
London Daily Telegraph (2 Mar 1988)
Alas, after a certain age, every man is responsible for his face.
[Hélas! après un certain âge tout homme est responsable do son visage.]
