Whatever you do, do it wisely and consider the end.

The first time I was introduced to this quote, was by Prof. Bronislaw Sitek,¹during Roman Law lectures. “A favorite quote of mine” – he said – “you will eventually discover just how meaningful it is”. Many winters have passed since my student years, and this quote stayed with me as my motto.

The sad truth about quotes is that you can observe their fall out of fervor recently. Using quotes in your daily life has become considered archaic and “not-trendy”. What was once an efficient way of passing wisdom is now ridicule in the world of popular culture. Unfortunately, this might be a natural consequence of one of our greatest achievements- mass communication, and unlimited access to it by everyone.

Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur

“Whatever has been said in Latin seems deep”. Ironic Latin phrase, made to poke fun at people who appear to use Latin phrases and quotations to make themselves sound more important or educated.

With Facebook, Twitter, Skype or any other communicators, quotes have been abused in so many ways, that we got fed up with them. We no longer perceive quotes as a source of knowledge, but rather a way of expressing mood, or building image with status updates.

I agree that quotes often sound really not innovative, or straightforward (whatever you do consider the consequences? Well, thank you Capt. Obvious) but I will try to show you that it is not worth to forget about them. There are some citations that have power of making you question your actions, or giving you an important advice. Behind most of them, an interesting story and often a quote as is a moral of that story. Let’s take a closer look at the quote that inspired me to write this entry – Quidquid Agis Prudenter Agas et Respice Finem – and try to find out what story it has to tell.

There are many ways of interpreting this quote, it is very universal. Professor Bronislaw Sitek used it when addressing Law School rookies, during their first lecture of Roman Law. It was obvious to us back then, that he meant that we need to study Roman Law carefully, always thinking about the final exam. But if we look at the bigger picture, maybe he meant that we should use our 5 years at the University wisely, in order to be better lawyers in the future, more competitive, getting better jobs in the end. Make a good use of unlimited access to resources our University provided, of the scholarships and the time we were given, don’t waste it. Or maybe it was about our future legal careers? He meant that we should always give 100% as professional lawyers in every case, and reward will be ours, after the outcome of the case and with a happy client. As you can see, whatever the specific meaning in this scenario would be, it doesn’t matter, because this motto is universal, and stays true at any stage of your life. As we will find out, during different eras, this quote was also used in different tone.

During late middle ages “Ars Moriendi”² style of life perception, quote was often translated as “Whatever you do, do it with intelligence and with the end in mind”. “The end” is interpreted here as death, thus equalizing it’s meaning to “Memento Mori”, as seen in this picture of a skull from Germany, 1760, found in the collection of The British Museum:³

Quote was fitting nicely (in this interpretation) into the Medieval Latin theory and practice of reflection on mortality and vanity of earthly life. Whatever you are doing, do it with intelligence and remember that you will die. Always think about death, as the earthly life doesn’t matter that much. But was that the original meaning? This late Medieval Christian interpretation just doesn’t seem right- Memento Mori was all about discarding the importance of our life on earth, and focusing on immortality and salvation of soul- why would you put so much attention into your earthly business, as the original quote suggests you do?

The earliest written source of this quote to be found, was Gesta Romanorum⁴(Deeds of Romans). A very famous compilation of Latin anecdotes and tales, complied and widely spread during the early dark ages. Intellectual Property Law was not as eagerly executed back in medieval times as it is now, thus it was freely copied and translated into many western languages (and that is good) and has become a source of inspiration for authors of later literature, such as William Shakespeare. World famous “Merchant of Venice” or “King Lear” have their origins in the tales of Gesta Romanorum. Unfortunately, widespread of this size also means that the original authors are not known for certain. Tales have variety of origin; some of them come from Ancient Greek, Roman or even Asian culture. Our quotation appears in the CIII (103) part of the compilation- De omnibus rebus cum consensu et providentia semper agendis. Latin version of Gesta Romanorum from 1472 has been scanned and is available online to download for free, thanks to The University of Heinrich Heine in Düsseldorf ⁵.

Here is the fragment of story, where we can find our quote. For the whole story, please refer to the original available in the online directory of University of Dusseldorf by following this link. King Dominatius was approached by a merchant, who offered to share three important maxims for a price of 1000 florins. One of them was “whatever you do, do wisely, and think of consequences”. King was so fond of this maxim, that he ordered to inscribe it wherever he could go – his court, his bed chamber, even his table cloth. Dominatus was a just and fair king, and as such, he had many enemies on his court. Some of them, disagreeing with his policies, hired a barber, to cut Dominatius throat during his shaving routine. When the moment come and barber was raising his razor to assassinate the king, he noticed inscription on the towel- Whatever you do, do wisely, and think of consequences. Barber considered his actions, and thought about the final outcome of his deeds- and realized, that if he would kill Dominatius, he would probably get crucified anyway. Thus King’s life was saved.

A common misinformation repeated in many sources is that this quote comes from famous Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known as Ovid. This is false, but we will find this information on many blogs and websites, such as Polish version of Wikipedia. The most funny (or sad) example will be a Company that provides service in education, knowledge and training’s and uses this as a motto, claiming Ovid as an origin. Whatever you do, do it wisely and check your sources.
Original creator of this quote is anonymous, as the information about authors of tales from “Deeds of Romans” is mostly lost. Majority of the Roman Emperors and Kings mentioned in Gesta Romanorum are fictional and it’s hard to even place the origin the a time frame. This is however the earliest written source of this exact quote.

Latin quotes in general have a trait of being applicable beyond their original context. A warning about being careful when doing your job, and about it’s consequences is also not a “discovery of atom” and we can find quotes or tales in similar spirit, like Aesop’s (c. 620–564 BCE) tale of two frogs (“Look before you leap.” ) or The Old Testament, Syrach, SYR 7.36 (“In everything you do, remember your end, and you will never sin.”). Envision what you want to achieve in the future so that you do it in the best way possible and make it a reality.

I hope this encouraged you to rediscover Ancient Latin, Asian and Greek quotes, and the tales and fables from which the quotes have their origin. With all those authors and articles in the internet, telling you how to live and what to do with your career and how to be a happy person, you might find out just what you were looking for, when searching for guidance in daily routine, in short and simple stories, that used to work for thousands of years before.

 

1. Bronislaw Wlodzimierz Sitek, ur. 27 września 1958 w Inowrocławiu – Polish Lawyer, Professor and Roman Law specialist http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronis%C5%82aw_Sitek.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori
3. http://collection.britishmuseum.org/resource?uri=http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/object/PPA99344
   
4. http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/titleinfo/3647853
5. terms of service: http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/doc/page/service