Doing a fable about a miser last week, Avarus et Thesaurus, inspired me to pull together this collection of Latin proverbs about the word avarus. Like the fable, the sayings themselves refer to the paradoxical situation of the miser who has but thinks he does not have, who should be happy but is not, etc.
Avarus animus nullo satiatur lucro.
This is the essential nature of the miser: no amount of money is ever enough.
Avarus semper eget.
Semper avarus eget; hunc nulla pecunia replet.
The second saying is a rhyming medieval proverb: eget-replet.
Avarum irritat, non satiat pecunia.
Avarum excitant, non satiant divitiae.
These proverbs also explore the paradoxical relationship of the miser to his money: normal people are satisfied by money, but not the miser.
Avarus ipse miseriae causa est suae.
In nullum avarus bonus est, in se pessimus.
These proverbs are about the miser's unhappiness: he has not one but himself to blame!
Avarus semper est pauper.
Omnes divites avari sunt pauperes.
This is the paradoxical outcome: because the miser considers himself in need of more, he is as needy as a poor man, even though rich.
Desunt egeno multa, avaro omnia.
This saying takes the paradox even farther: the miser is not just like a poor man, he is even poorer than the more man! The word "egenus" shares its root with the verb "eget" as in the sayings above, "Avarus semper eget."
Aestimat esse parum sibi quidquid habet cor avarum.
This is another rhyming medieval saying: parum-avarum.
Avarus aurum deum habet.
This proverb shifts the focus to the relationship between the miser and his money. The word "habet" here means "holds" in the sense of "considers, esteems," etc.
Avarus auri custos, non dominus.
Plus servant avari aurum quam se.
Non avaro divitiae, sed divitiis avarus servit.
All three of these sayings play with the idea that the miser is not the mater of his money; just the opposite in fact!
Bursa avari os est diaboli.
What a vivid metaphor! It appears in Thomas Nash's "Christ’s Tears Over Jerusalem" from 1593: Bursa Avari os est diaboli, The usurer’s purse is hell-mouth. He hath hydropem conscientiam (as Augustine saith), a dropsy conscience, that ever drinks and ever is dry. Like the fox, he useth his wit and his teeth together; he never smiles but he seizeth; he never talks but he takes advantage.
Avarus nisi cum moritur, nil recte facit.
This saying reminds me of the scene in the musical version of Dickens' Christmas Carol when Scrooge witnesses the circumstances of his own death and funeral. In English literature, there is no better example of a miser than Scrooge!
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