"" is verse 490 of Book 2 of the ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek language, Greek word , ''geōrgiká'', i.e. "agricultural hings) the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from bei ...

'' (29 BC), by the Latin poet

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

(70 – 19 BC). It is literally translated as: "Fortunate, who has been able to know the causes of things". Dryden rendered it: "Happy the Man, who, studying Nature's Laws, / Thro' known Effects can trace the secret Cause" (''The works of Virgil'', 1697). Virgil may have had in mind the

Roman philosopher Ancient Roman philosophy is philosophy as it was practiced in the Roman Republic and its successor state, the Roman Empire. Roman philosophy includes not only philosophy written in Latin, but also philosophy written in Greek in the late Republic ...

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( ; ; – October 15, 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem '' De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is t ...

, of the

Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

school.

Uses

This sentence is often written with a present tense instead of the past tense: "" ("Fortunate is he, who is able to know the causes of things"). Translators have also often added the adjective "hid" or "hidden" to qualify the

causes Causes, or causality, is the relationship between one event and another. It may also refer to: * Causes (band), an indie band based in the Netherlands * Causes (company) Causes is a for-profit civic-technology app and website that enables users ...

. The full verse states:

Which translates to:

He who’s been able to learn the causes of things is happy, and has set all fear, and unrelenting fate, and the noise of greedy Acheron, under his feet.

The latter half of the phrase, "", is the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

, Bruce Hall (residential college of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

), Humberside Collegiate, the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

, Hill Park Secondary School in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, the IVDI lecture hall of the

University of Debrecen The University of Debrecen ( ) is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary ever since its establishment in 1538. The university has a well established progra ...

, the Science National Honor Society, the

Royal Military College of Science The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) was a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider with origins dating back to 1772. It became part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2009, and ceased to exis ...

, the German newspaper ''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

'' and the .cnap.unap.ro
/ref> The phrase is engraved in the stone bust of

Clodomiro Picado Twight Clodomiro Picado Twight (April 17, 1887May 16, 1944), also known as "Clorito Picado", was a Costa Rican scientist who was internationally recognized for his pioneering research on snake venom and the development of various antivenins. His work ...

in the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

, in San Pedro and also engraved on a stone fireplace at the Henry Wallace building in the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (

CATIE Catie is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Catie Ball (born 1951), American Olympic swimmer * Catie Curtis (born 1965), American singer-songwriter * Catie Lazarus (1976–2020), American writer, storyteller and talk show host ...

) in

Turrialba Turrialba may refer to: Places * Turrialba Volcano * Turrialba Volcano National Park, created around Turrialba Volcano. * Turrialba (canton), located in Cartago Province Cartago (), which means Carthage in Spanish, is a Provinces of Costa Ri ...

, Costa Rica. It appears prominently on a board in the 1990 film ''Awakenings'' (at time 1:06:19). The sentence also appears in Latin in the English-language edition of ''

Asterix and Obelix All at Sea ''Asterix and Obelix All at Sea'' (, "Obelix's galley hip) is the thirtieth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by Albert Uderzo. The album was dedicated to Uderzo's grandchild, as well as to the American actor Kirk Douglas. Plot summary A ...

'' on page 41. The reply to this sentence is: "Never Mind The Potty Causes Now!"

References

External links

* {{cite book , author= Virgil , chapter= Georgics , title= Eclogues; Georgics; Aeneid I- VI , place= Cambridge, Massachusetts and London , publisher= Harvard University Press , year= 1999 , pages
170 -171
, isbn= 978-0-674-99583-3 , editor= , translator= H. Roushton Fairclough , translator-link = Henry Rushton Fairclough , url= https://archive.org/details/virgil0000virg_m1f3/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater , url-access= registration , via=

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

*Virgil
''Georgica'' (II, v. 490)
Virgil Latin quotations