Expert: Maria - 1/2/2007

Question
could you please translate the following: quae nocent, saepe docent

Answer
Hello,

The Latin phrase “Quae nocent, saepe docent” means:

“What hurts, often instructs”  
or  
“What harms, often teaches”.

Such a  saying is used in fact to say that we can  learn  by adverse experience.

Best,
Maria
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-QUAE = what (literally, ‘those things which’)

-NOCENT = hurts / harms  ( Latin uses the 3rd person plural as NOCENT agrees with ‘those things which’)

-SAEPE= often

-DOCENT = instructs/ teaches ( Latin uses the 3rd person plural as DOCENT agrees with ‘those things which’)