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Dum spiro spero, which translates to "While I breathe, I hope",[1] is aLatin phrase of indeterminate origin. It is themotto of various places and organisations, including the U.S. state ofSouth Carolina.
The sense ofdum spiro spero can be found in the work of Greek poetTheocritus (3rd Century BC), who wrote: "While there's life there's hope, and only the dead have none."[2] That sentiment seems to have become common by the time of Roman statesmanCicero (106 – 43 BC), who wrote toAtticus: "As in the case of a sick man one says, 'While there is life there is hope' [dum anima est, spes esse], so, as long asPompey was in Italy, I did not cease to hope."[3]
Matthew Henry (1662–1714), commenting onEcclesiastes 9:3–4, directly related and applied the term to biblical King Solomon's ecclesiastical understanding of life as it relates to a supernatural afterlife. Henry's use suggests that there is eternal hope of heaven while people are living, but this hope is lost once their breath is gone if they choose to live unrighteously ("While there is life there is hope.Dum spiro, spero – while I breathe, I hope.").[4] Henry's application also implies that the phrase's general idea predates Greek thought as it was first recorded in the 10th century BC inMasoretic texts.[citation needed]
The phrase is present in modern day in a representation of the seal of South Carolina printed in March 1785 and in 1777.[5] At some point, by 1890 it was used as the motto of the town ofSt Andrews,[6]Scotland, and is visible on heraldry around the town from the mid-19th century onwards.[7][8]
Dum spiro spero is used as a motto byarmigerous families including theCorbet baronets of Moreton Corbet (both creations), theHoare baronets of Annabella, Co. Cork, theCotter baronets of Rockforest, Co. Cork, and theViscounts Dillon.[16]The Sharp and Sharpe clans of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.[citation needed] Royal military.[citation needed]The Williamson Clan from Scotland ; and the ScottishClan MacLennan.[citation needed]Individuals who used the motto includeCharles I,[17] King of England; SirJames Brooke,Rajah of Sarawak,[18] and the merchant seaman and privateer, later Royal Governor of the Bahama Islands,Woodes Rogers.[19]
Quotations related toTheocritus at Wikiquote Quotations related toCicero at Wikiquote
The dictionary definition ofhope springs eternal at Wiktionary