Talk:De mortuis nil nisi bonum

Lawrence of Arabia
The most accessible use of this Latin phrase in the 20th and early 21st centuries (in its most abbreviated form, "nil nisi bonum") is likely in the opening sequence of David Lean's epic film Lawrence of Arabia.

Although Lean takes certain liberties with the truth (in part necessitated by the nature of the cinematic medium, in part to create a hero required for an immensely popular entertainment product) this up-front commentary on Lawrence's contribution to history is quite in keeping with actual early 20th century judgment of T.E.L.'s deeds and misdeeds. More is the pity, though, that it was disguised for the eyes (ears) of most viewers, save those who could count Latin among their studies.

Greg Hecht 26 Dec 05

Translation
One suspects a bar-room joke here, too, for the classical scholar: De Malt uisghe Nil ni Sybarum en ce bar-room. 210.50.72.93 07:29, 19 December 2006 (UTC) Ian Ison

A more proper literal translation might be "nothing but good is (ever) spoken of the dead," but I will defer.

Bileman 15:03, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

I think a decent literal translation would actually be "Nothing except good should be spoken about the dead." --Dd42 (talk) 01:35, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I know it in a different form, which one is accurate now? "De mortuis nihil nisi bene"--87.169.3.64 (talk) 20:02, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Both are correct, and both are in use. "nil nisi bene" is adverbial, as in "do not speak but well", while "nil nisi bonum" would be "speak nothing if not a good thing". Both versions get more than 100 hits on google books even in publications older than 1850, so it is completely pointless to maintain a lengthy "list of uses" on this page, the phrase used to be ubiquitous at least throughout the 19th century. --dab (𒁳) 07:12, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

Included a reference
There is now a single reference in the article, for the 15th century Latin translation of Diogenes' Laertius. (I also found a public domain, free to use, photo image of the 1473 edition, which I might try to upload.)


 * I wrote the prior comment last year (2012), but forgot to sign my name at the time. Also, I will correct the reference to ASU Library, which is showing some strange red font error. I think it is due to the citation template having multiple author field or title values. I will fix it. --FeralOink (talk) 06:57, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

A suggestion
Perhaps this page should be moved, or linked to an entry on the Wikipedia sister site for quotations? I think the website is Wikiquote. --FeralOink (talk) 06:09, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Say nothing I'll of the dead, but the truth.
I've found this longer version on the Russian part of the net, and was curious if this is true or if it is just fake media. Essentially, it changes the meaning, as, in Russian, it is structured this way: "О мертвых либо хорошо, либо ничего.", which translates as: "About the dead, you either say good, or nothing". With the addition of the part "but thruth", it changes the meaning quite a lot. 178.168.35.219 (talk) 06:38, 5 December 2021 (UTC)