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"esse quam videri" and "the lost childhood of Judas" by Patrick Killough [06/20/1999] It is on my mind to write sometime about the Latin motto of the State of North Carolina, “ESSE QUAM VIDERI.” It means, “to be (rather) than to seem.” Who first uttered those words? One North Carolina state internet site says that the motto is taken from Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.). It comes from Cicero’s long essay in Latin, “de amicitia” (“on friendship”). Reading from another internet site, I have unsystematically skimmed through “de amicitia” text. But I have not yet found the phrase “esse quam videri.” So I appealed for help to State regional archeologist David Moore. David turned to Ron Holland, his colleague in the State Historic Preservation Office in Asheville. Ron cannily noted that “esse quam videri” is said to be “based on” Cicero. It is therefore possibly not a direct quotation from the great Roman orator. When Mr. Holland finds the precise text and verse, he will let me know. I, in turn, will then write about our State motto. "To Be Rather Than To Seem" “To be rather than to seem” is a bold statement of what our state is all about. To one Tarheel “esse quam videri” means “substance, not shadow.” A second hears it telling her that “things aren’t always what they seem.” A third interprets it, “don’t let a pretty face mislead you.” A teacher once told me that Latin is a “lapidary” language. That is, Latin lends itself to sayings “of an elegance suitable for inscription in stone.” The truth is, Latin can say very much very briefly. When you are carving into a hard rock, fewer words mean less work. Feel free to look all this up. When I find out enough to satisfy me on the source of “esse quam videri,” I shall write again. "In the Lost Childhood of Judas, Christ was Betrayed" In October and November 1999 I will teach an adult education course on the English novelist Graham Greene. Greene once tossed out a quotation without saying where he got it. The words appear in his 1935 short story, “The Basement Room.” Later, when it was turned into a four-star motion picture, the story was retro-fitted with the movie’s name, THE FALLEN IDOL. A seven-year old English boy, Philip, rather neglected by his wealthy parents, turns for affection to his butler, Mr. Baines. Baines regales Philip with tales of his imaginary earlier life in West Africa. The quotation which haunts me is embedded in the following passage. “Let grown-up people keep to their world and he would keep to his, safe in the small garden between the plane trees. ‘IN THE LOST CHILDHOOD OF JUDAS, CHRIST WAS BETRAYED’; you could almost see the small unformed face hardening into the deep dilettante selfishness of age.” [Capitals mine.]If only we knew enough about the “lost childhood” of Judas Iscariot, we might understand why he would later betray his friend and teacher, Jesus of Nazareth. If that is true, might we have foreseen the outlines of the public careers of people like Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush and Elizabeth Dole, if only we had known more about what they started making of themselves in childhood? Look Them Up! Look those those two sayings up, I urge both myself and you. Search for both “esse quam videri” and “the lost childhood of Judas.” I accept that the North Carolina motto is “based upon” some words of the great Roman orator Cicero. I also accept that Graham Greene did not invent his quotation about the lost childhood of Judas and the betrayal of Jesus Christ. But my searches have produced very little so far. Especially hopeful, however, is an internet site suggested by Richard Sojka of Black Mountain, NC: http://www.isleuth.com/. Just look them up! That sounds easier than it is. If you want to join me in my searches, well then “tally ho!” -OOO- for Asheville TRIBUNE |