I am trying to remember a Latin quote that says something like
I know I am wrong but I do it anyway.
I remember reading it in a book. It's not much to go on, but if someone knows it, it will be nice to remember it again.
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Sign up to join this communityI am trying to remember a Latin quote that says something like
I know I am wrong but I do it anyway.
I remember reading it in a book. It's not much to go on, but if someone knows it, it will be nice to remember it again.
I think I found the phrase, Video meliora, proboque, deteriora sequor. It is from Ovid's "Metamorphoses." I came across it while reading the Mayor of Casterbridge. Thanks for the comments, but I found it interesting because it doesn't mock the person for doing it; it's just tragic. Does anyone know the context of this phrase?
Half the story is here: Princess Medea falls in love with Jason, who with the Argonauts' is trying to recover the Golden Fleece.
The Golden Fleece, which drew the Argonauts out of their comfort zone, came from the Ram which carried two refugee children from the Athamantic Mountains in Greece. One of the children, Hellé, drowned in the Hellespont.
In the off-chance that, instead of searching for a Latin term to characterize one's own behavior, you're referring to the indication that your quoted text sports some error(s) and you are hoping to simply make clear that you included the error(s) when knowing that they are, in fact, errors, then my below answer may add some value (otherwise, probably not so much)...
It is "sic" (shorthand; often written in italics and always in brackets [] at the conclusion of the quoted statement made in error, but always within the quotes), with a widely-accepted first-documented usage as an adverb in 1859.
"Sic" is short for the gadget Latin phrase, "sic erat scriptum," meaning "thus was it written," to indicate that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any erroneous, archaic, or otherwise nonstandard spelling, punctuation, or grammar, as well as any surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that could be interpreted as an error of transcription.
The above-described usage of "sic" contrasts with the direct translation for the Latin word, "sic" (as opposed to the translation to the abbreviation for the previously-denoted Latin phrase at issue), which means "thus" or "so."
Hope this info helps!!