5
   

Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad?

 
 
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 03:39 am
It seems to make no sense to me.

I'd edit it into:

Those whom God wishes to destroy, He makes them mad first.

But I am not sure about this.
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Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 7,220 • Replies: 66

 
View best answer, chosen by oristarA
XXSpadeMasterXX
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 04:05 am
@oristarA,
Not a bad interpretation. You are doing well. Very Happy

Those whom God wishes to destroy, First, become mad at God.
0 Replies
 
timur
 
  4  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 12:13 pm
@oristarA,
Opinions on language can be, and are, biased by religion.

Be aware of that, Ori..
0 Replies
 
XXSpadeMasterXX
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 12:28 pm
@oristarA,
Yes, religious, and lack of believers can be bias. It is a hard topic to interpret, because it requires your own subjective thinking about them. It can be hard to give an objective view at times from many. It is best to ask many how they would interpret those paragraphs in their best objective way. and remember to ask as many as you can. Very Happy
Setanta
  Selected Answer
 
  4  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 01:01 pm
I see that Spade has been rushing into ESL threads to drop off his opinions about English, and i find that disturbing, given his lack of writing skills. That's the only reason i'm responding here.

There is an ancient Greek proverb which runs: "Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad."--mad, of course, in the sense of insane. The quote is often wrongly attributed to Euripides. However, that gives us a clue to its age. As Euripides lived in the 5th century BCE, the proverb is at least 2500 years old, and probably much older. The version Oristar has here is obviously a corruption of the original version, which i suspect the author has tailored to his or her text. We can't know, though, because, as usual, were are given damned little context.
timur
 
  3  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 01:03 pm
@XXSpadeMasterXX,
Were you so ashamed by your initial comment that you felt the need to write a whole new one?
XXSpadeMasterXX
 
  0  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 01:23 pm
@timur,
Nope. Were you so ashamed of me putting in lack of believers that you felt compelled to ask me that question?
0 Replies
 
InfraBlue
 
  5  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 01:24 pm
@oristarA,
This is a translation into English from Classical Greek.

The sentence isn't ungrammatical; it's merely an archaic translation.

You see that in old translations such as the King James Version of the Bible.

"Those whom God wishes to destroy, he makes them mad first," isn't bad, but it's a bit clunky.
0 Replies
 
XXSpadeMasterXX
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 02:08 pm
@oristarA,
I am glad to take the time to help you out Ori! Anytime you are interested in my opinions, views, or perspectives. I will be glad to give them to you! I am learning new things when I research the topics you bring up as well, and I like that.

Pay no attention to the hate speech from those who say they had no reason to come here to post other than to post hate about me. Says a lot about their incentives, doesn't it? Also, pay no attention to the votes, there are about 4 or 5 people who follow me around all the time and vote me down all the time, because of hate in different threads. Hate is a serious problem in the U.S. And as one can see, they are doing it on purpose now. Like they always do.

I am glad you are my friend, and I will always help you out as best as I can Very Happy Very Happy
contrex
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 02:39 pm
Those whom Contrex wishes to seduce, he first makes drunk.

An old fashioned form, but by no means ungrammatical or in any way wrong.
contrex
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 02:42 pm
@XXSpadeMasterXX,
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:
there are about 4 or 5 people who follow me around all the time and vote me down all the time


Can I be number "5 or 6"? This is because you are a dick.


XXSpadeMasterXX
 
  1  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 02:46 pm
@contrex,
If you would really like too...But just do me one favor...Please explain what I have ever done wrong to you? And ask yourself, is it me? Or the 65 other people on here you do not like by evidence of your tags on your profile page?

"G,O, D = L, O,V, E" approx 30 seconds..."
0 Replies
 
oristarA
 
  2  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 10:36 pm
@Setanta,
Setanta wrote:

I see that Spade has been rushing into ESL threads to drop off his opinions about English, and i find that disturbing, given his lack of writing skills. That's the only reason i'm responding here.

There is an ancient Greek proverb which runs: "Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad."--mad, of course, in the sense of insane. The quote is often wrongly attributed to Euripides. However, that gives us a clue to its age. As Euripides lived in the 5th century BCE, the proverb is at least 2500 years old, and probably much older. The version Oristar has here is obviously a corruption of the original version, which i suspect the author has tailored to his or her text. We can't know, though, because, as usual, were are given damned little context.


Excellent!
0 Replies
 
oristarA
 
  3  
Reply Fri 8 Feb, 2013 10:58 pm
@XXSpadeMasterXX,
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:

I am glad to take the time to help you out Ori! Anytime you are interested in my opinions, views, or perspectives. I will be glad to give them to you! I am learning new things when I research the topics you bring up as well, and I like that.

Pay no attention to the hate speech from those who say they had no reason to come here to post other than to post hate about me. Says a lot about their incentives, doesn't it? Also, pay no attention to the votes, there are about 4 or 5 people who follow me around all the time and vote me down all the time, because of hate in different threads. Hate is a serious problem in the U.S. And as one can see, they are doing it on purpose now. Like they always do.

I am glad you are my friend, and I will always help you out as best as I can Very Happy Very Happy


I know you're warm-hearted and enthusiastic.

And this forum, focusing on improving languages, is open to anyone with enthusiasm on linguistic skills.


0 Replies
 
JTT
 
  0  
Reply Sat 9 Feb, 2013 05:22 am
@Setanta,
Quote:
I see that Spade has been rushing into ESL threads to drop off his opinions about English, and i find that disturbing, given his lack of writing skills.


A guy who so often offers bogus information about both language and grammar should not so quickly leap to denigrate the offerings of others.
0 Replies
 
JTT
 
  0  
Reply Sat 9 Feb, 2013 05:24 am
@Setanta,
Quote:
given his lack of writing skills.


We can't know, though, because, as usual, were are given damned little context.

Rolling Eyes
timur
 
  4  
Reply Sat 9 Feb, 2013 06:36 am
@JTT,
Yes, we can, JTT:
SpadeMaster wrote:
of me putting in lack of believers


Any idea what that means?

oristarA
 
  2  
Reply Sat 9 Feb, 2013 08:17 am
@timur,
timur wrote:

Yes, we can, JTT:
SpadeMaster wrote:
of me putting in lack of believers


Any idea what that means?



I wonder what it is as well.
0 Replies
 
contrex
 
  1  
Reply Sat 9 Feb, 2013 08:28 am
It means nothing. SpadeMaster is an illiterate troll.
0 Replies
 
oristarA
 
  2  
Reply Sat 9 Feb, 2013 09:12 am
@contrex,
contrex wrote:

Those whom Contrex wishes to seduce, he first makes drunk.

An old fashioned form, but by no means ungrammatical or in any way wrong.



Very Happy
Did you speak out this from the bottom of your heart? Wink
 

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