Virgil, Aeneid IV.373
Melphi speaks
Nusquam tuta fides.
The priest translates
«Nowhere is trust safe.»
And interprets
If this line came to you, perhaps you feel betrayed: a broken promise, a friend who turned away, a business deal that fell through at the last minute. It is a real wound and should not be played down. But Melphi warns you against the next step, the one that does the most harm: concluding that no one can be trusted. That is the voice of pain, not of truth. Allow yourself the anger and disappointment, without shame, but do not turn them into a rule for the future. Protect yourself better, yes: put things in writing, ask for guarantees, slow down. And keep the door open for those who have shown they deserve it.
The historical translations
Annibal Caro (1581)
Più l’opre nostre. Ov’è qua giù più fede?
E chi più la mantiene? Era costui
Più l’opre nostre. Ov’è qua giù più fede?
E chi più la mantiene? Era costui
Theodore C. Williams (1910)
where justice lies. No trusting heart is safe
in all this world. That waif and castaway
where justice lies. No trusting heart is safe
in all this world. That waif and castaway
Source
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, ed. J. B. Greenough (1900)
Virgil, Aeneid IV.373