Latin for Smartasses, Part II

All right, here's part II of my mini series "Latin for Smartasses". Enjoy!

"Alter Ego" (~other self)
Cicero, Roman politician and philosopher (106-43 BC)
It seems to refer to a very good friend who is called one's "alter ego", one's other self, due to a special closeness.

"O tempora, o mores" (~Oh times, oh morales)
Cicero, Roman politician and philosopher (106-43 BC)
Cicero complained about corruption and evil among his peers in his first speech against his political enemy Catilina, who had conspired against the Roman government but still hadn't been punished for it. Nowadays, it is often used in a humorous way.

"Cogito, ergo sum." (~I think, so I am.)
René Descartes, French scientist and philosopher (1596-1650)
Actually, the original version of this quote is French (Je pense, donc je suis.). The Latin version is much more common nowadays, though. With this simple statement, Descartes proves that humans are able to be aware of themselves.

"Panem et circenses." (~Bread and games.)
Juvenal, Roman poet (1st century)
Juvenal crisicised that the Roman people would accept each and every whim and caprice of their government if they were just kept happy with games and free food. In modern politics, this quote is more prevailing than ever, even though the means of keeping the people quiet may be different. Be it a huge sports event during which a government passes unpopular laws without anyone taking notice, or some new law which at first sight helps the people, only to be followed by a second, much more negative one; politicians all around the world seem to have learnt from Roman political strategies. Leaves to see if they learnt from Roman history as well....

"Quod erat demonstrandum (q.e.d.)." (~Which had to be proven.)
Euclid, Greek mathematician (~365-300 BC)
"Quod erat demonstrandum", or rather the short form "q.e.d.", is the common closure of a mathematical proof. Originally, this saying came from the ancient Greek mathematician Euklid, and several other ancient Greek mathematicians used the Greek equivalent as well, long before the Latin version was used.

"Nulla poena sine lege!" (~No crime, no punishment without law.)
Anselm von Feuerbach, German law scientist (1775-1833)
Although the basic principle behind this quote was already put into words by Roman jurist Ulpian, it was indeed a German who coined this quote. This principle is written down in many a country's constitution and aims at protecting the people from arbitrariness by law or government officials (prosecution for an act which wasn't a crime when it happened but was made a crime afterwards, for example).

"Homo homini lupus est." (~One man is the other man's wolf.)
Titus Maccius Plautus, Roman poet (~250-184 BC)
This quote means that one man is another man's foe; men constantly fight each other for various motives (greed, jealousy, envy...). In today's capitalist western world, the truth behind this quote can easily be seen on the financial markets, in politics and big companies and corporate groups.

You still don't have enough of my Latin for Smartasses? You're lucky; there's another part coming up next week!