"Plus pastinacae, minus ferulae!", I think //
ut opinorvel "Hortatum, non ferulam!" ("Encouragement, not the rod!")
Certum est vocabulum classicum scilicet pastinaca at non classicum istud dictum, verbum pro verbo, secundum OED.Pastinaca (parsnip/carrot) is a classical word but "More carrot, less stick" is not a classical saying, at least not word for word, I understand from OED.
Cheiromancer wrote:Did they have a saying contrasting positive and negative incentives?
Nescio. Nullum istius generis apud Erasmum inveni. Forsit alius dicat. Nisi est dictum verum latinum, id melius anglicè stet, aliàs ventosum sonet.I don't know. I didn't find one in Erasmus. Maybe another might. Unless there's an authentic saying in Latin, I would leave it in English. It may sound windy, otherwise.
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.