Phaedo by Plato

Latin Learning Latin
1

Latin Scholars,

I am a student in my first semester in the study of Latin.

My particular class is focusing primarily on the translation of Latin to English. Therefore, I cannot translate English to Latin very well at all.

Could anyone help me out with the translation of the following phrase from The Phaedo by Plato.

“To use words wrongly is not only a fault in itself, it also creates evil in the soul.”

Thanks

2

it is of course impossible to demand ‘the’ translation, for the essence of language is fluidity of expression. a possible rendering may be ‘uerbis abuti non solum est uitium per se sed mala in anima efficit’.
if you’re a man of industry, you should consult the work of marsilio ficino, the fifteenth century scholar who translated the whole works of plato into polished latin prose.

~D