"Inter Faeces..." Quote

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Sun Feb 4 21:57:52 UTC 2007


At 4:16 PM -0500 2/4/07, Amy West wrote:
>If it's in PL, then someone on Medtext-l should be able to sniff it out . . .
>I can forward the query along if you like. It sounds like it should
>be from Augustine's Confessions if it really is in Augustine.
>
>---Amy West

Well, wherever it comes from, it's nice that after decades of
intermittent speculation about the possibility of *inter-species*
reproduction, we're now back to discussing the inter-faeces variety.

LH

>
>>Date:    Fri, 2 Feb 2007 12:49:16 -0500
>>From:    Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>>Subject: "Inter Faeces..." Quote
>>
>>Someone has asked me for the source of the saying "Inter faeces et urinam
>>nascimur."  I see that it is widely attributed to Augustine, but without a
>>precise source.  I would welcome any help on this.
>>
>>Fred Shapiro
>>
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
>>Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
>>    Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press
>>Yale Law School                             ISBN 0300107986
>>e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>Date:    Fri, 2 Feb 2007 13:10:15 -0500
>>From:    Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
>>Subject: Re: "Inter Faeces..." Quote
>>
>>Gershon Legman attributed the aphorism to St. Odo of Cluny. For many
>>years I have quested for its source (even in the electronic Migne
>>Patrologia), with no success. Maybe I'm not searching with
>>sufficiant skill or piety.
>>
>>It sometimes appears in the form "Inter urinam et faeces nascimur."
>>
>>Charlie
>>________________________________________________
>
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