Expert: Maria - 1/19/2010

Question
Hello Maria, been a great fan of your work for quite some time... Last couple of months were a bit rough for me.. There are unfortuantely some things in life that no matter what, you cant do anything to change them... I 've made my share of mistakes, for which i regret deeply... and the one thing that i realized is that every action has a reaction and every reaction has a consequence.. life's not about taking a decision, its about accepting the consequences of that decision...

anyway a few days ago i stumbled upon a phrase by Reinhold Niebuhr

''God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference''

I 've tried to translate it (with no fair success) to latin, and this is where i need your help... I know its a big one, but i could really appreciate all the help i can get...

Thanks in advance for your help...

Answer
Hello,

I am  sorry about  your  last difficult months  and hope you are now getting over this critical period, thanks to your perception of what life is, as you say.

As for the phrase you mention, it  can be translates as follows:

-“Da mihi, Deus, ea quae mutare non possum serenitatem ferendi, ea quae contra mutare possum  mutandi vim ac discriminis cognoscendi prudentiam” (literal)

Also, you could use another translation which is not so literal, though it does not change the sense of the quotation.

Here it is:

-"Deus, fac ut ea quae mutare non possum aequo feram animo, quae contra mutare possum  animose mutem  ac prudenter discrimina cognoscam”.
(literally, "God, find a way of making  me able to accept  the things I cannot change, find a way of making me able to change the things I can, find the way of making me able to know the difference").



Best wishes,
Maria
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Note that:

-God = DEUS (vocative case, 2nd.declension)

-grant = DA (2nd.person singular, imperative of DO, I grant)

-me = MIHI (dative of the 1st.person pronoun, since te verb DO takes the dative)

-the serenity = SERENITATEM (direct object, accusative of SERENITAS, 3rd.declension)

-to accept = FERENDI (genitive case, gerund of FERO, I accept)

-the things  = EA QUAE (direct object, accusative neuter plural of IS  and the relative pronoun QUI)

-I cannot = NON POSSUM

-change = MUTARE (infinitive of MUTO, I change)

-the courage = VIM (accusative of VIS, 3rd.declension)

-to change = MUTANDI (genitive case, gerund of  MUTO)

-the things = EA QUAE (see above)

-I can = POSSUM. Note that I’ve added CONTRA which means “instead”/”on the contrary”.

- and = AC

-the wisdom = PRUDENTIAM (accusative of PRUDENTIA, 1st.declension)

-to know = COGNOSCENDI (genitive  gerundive of COGNOSCO , I know)

-the difference' =DISCRIMINIS (genitive of DISCRIMEN agreed with COGNOSCENDI)

As you can see,  Latin word order  can be variable for in Latin syntactical relationships are indicated by the endings, not by the order of the words.
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-God = DEUS
-find a way of  making = FAC UT
-me able to accept  = AEQUO FERAM ANIMO
-the things = EA  QUAE
-I cannot change= MUTARE NON POSSUM
-find a way of making = omitted in Latin as it is a repetition
-me able to change = ANIMOSE MUTEM
-the things I can = QUAE CONTRA MUTARE POSSUM
-and=AC
-find the way of making = = omitted in Latin as it is a repetition
-me able to know  = PRUDENTER COGNOSCAM
-the difference =DISCRIMINA (neuter plural)