Radix (omnium) malorum est cupiditas

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Anonymous

Guest

Hi im just looking for some clarification on the difference between these two proverbs:

1) Radix malorum est cupiditas
Translation: Greed is the root of all evil

2) Radix omnium malorum est cupiditas
Translation: The love of money is the root of all evil. Avarice is the problem, money itself is not evil.

Is that 100% correct? Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
 

QMF

Civis Illustris

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Location:
Virginia, US
Cupiditas is literally "desire." The first is literally "the root of evils is desire", while the second is literally "the root of all evils is desire."
 
 

cinefactus

Censor

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Location:
litore aureo
The first is from the Pardoner's tale by Chaucer. The quote comes from 1 Tim 6:10 radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas (which is the second)

The Wycliffe Bible (which was translated directly from the Latin) translates this as, "For the rote of alle yuelis is coueytise" (For the root of all evils is covetousness), wheras the KJV which took input from the original sources has, "For the love of money is the root of all evil".

As QMF states the Latin doesn't mention money, but something more like greed.
 

JaimeB

Civis Illustris

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Location:
San Francisco, CA
Cupiditas is literally "desire." The first is literally "the root of evils is desire", while the second is literally "the root of all evils is desire."
The orignal Greek is from Paul's first letter to Timothy (6:10): ῥίζα γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστιν ἡ φιλαργυρία. The last word is translated into Latin as cupiditas, but the Greek word means "love of money" only, not desire in general. The Latin word is rather more ambiguous, and various meanings can be inferred for it based on the root meaning of "covetousness," though it often means "greed," a slightly more general meaning. To be faithful to the original, however, only love of money ought to be understood here.
 

IOHANNVSVERAX

Member

Location:
Canada
1) Radix malorum est cupiditas
Translation: Greed is the root of evils.

2) Radix omnium malorum est cupiditas
Translation: Greed is the root of all evils.

The only difference is the use of omnium in the second, which is an inflected form of omnis meaning "all" or "every".
 
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