"Nothing is impossible - for the man who doesn't have to do it himself"

paulydavy

New Member

Hello everyone,

I have had the pleasure of working with an excellent team over the last 2 years and am seeking to give some of those members an engraved gift. One of the gents I work with is fond of saying, "nothing is impossible - for the man who doesn't have to do it himself" as a satirical observation of the work our higher headquarters generates for us.

Any assistance in turning that phrase into Latin would be greatly appreciated. :)
 

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
I can't help thinking that a play on Latin opus, which can mean both 'work/deed' & 'need', would work well.

Quicque opus patet cui ipsi nullum opus laborando
'Every work is accessable [to the man] who himself has no need to work'
 

syntaxianus

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Massachusetts, USA
nil impossibile homini immuni ipsi ab omni labore.

Nothing is impossible for the one himself exempt from every effort.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
I can't help thinking that a play on Latin opus, which can mean both 'work/deed' & 'need', would work well.

Quicque opus patet cui ipsi nullum opus laborando
'Every work is accessable [to the man] who himself has no need to work'
Nice pun, but the grammar needs some fixing:

Omne opus patet ei quem non est opus laborare.

As for a slightly more direct translation of the original sentence, I would say: Nihil tam arduum ut fieri non possit—scilicet ei cui non est ipsi faciendum.
 
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Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
Can quisque really not be used adjectivally?
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
Can quisque really not be used adjectivally?
The masculine form can be, but the neuter adjectival form is normally quodque.

That wasn't the only issue with that part. It's very rare for a form of quisque to come first in a clause, and omne seemed better in this context anyway (more like "every/any" whereas quisque is "every/each several").

Note that I've edited my post above because I realized that opus esse is also more usual with acc. and inf. than with dat. and inf.
 
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