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That is meant to say "that which is unfixable is already fixed"

or

"if there is no solution, there is no point in worrying about it."

(is it ok to ask for a translation like so? Not a student of latin, I just wanted a cool translation of a phrase) - pronunciation tips also welcome :)

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  • We will always encourage asking questions! You gave multiple sayings with similar meanings, which was helpful in narrowing down the Latin phraseology. If you told us how you were going to use this phrase, that would also help.
    – Nickimite
    Aug 11, 2020 at 18:06

2 Answers 2

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Before a quote, I'll go for a translation, as you ask.

Stressing the health theme, I've thought of:

omnia incurabilia sana sunt,

where,

  • omnia means all (things)
  • incurabilia means incurable (things), hence omnia incurabilia: all incurable things. Note that the linked dictionary entry explicitly includes the meaning without remedy for the adjective.
  • sana means healty (neutral gender, plural) or healthy things. (It is idiomatic in Latin to use adjectives in neuter and plural for this purpose: bona = good things, (all) what is good, mala = bad stuff, the bad, etc.)
  • sunt is the third person plural form of the verb to be (they are)

All incurable things are healthy.

There is a number of variations you can choose from: both omnia and sunt aren't really necessary, they only affect emphasis or style. The word order isn't fixed either, at least regarding omnia with respect to incurabilia and the position of sunt: you could even go for something weird like sunt incurabilia omnia sana. But I think the first choice is the most standard, motto-looking one.

If you want to explicitly add the already part, you can insert iam as in omnia incurabilia iam sana, but I still think it is not as necessary as it is in English.


Alternatively, you could go for a more literal translation, like

Quae non habent remedium, iam remediata sunt

where,

  • quae plays the role of [the things] that...
  • non habent remedium = have no remedy (pl.)
  • remediata = remedied (neuter, pl.)

Update: I found a related (-ish) quote by Cicero. Many people prefer quotes over translations, even if they convey the idea more implicitly or indirectly. The fact that it was written millenia ago gives a sense of ancient wisdom. In that case you could use:

Cavebo quae sunt cavenda (Letters to Atticus, 1.17.10),

which translates to something like I will take care of what needs to be taken care of, implying that you don't need to seek cure for the incurable.


Regarding the pronunciation, there is a number of questions and answers about the subject in this site. In short, there is more than one accepted way to pronounce it, but if you ask me, the most important idea to have in mind is NOT to pronounce vowels as in English. Rather think of more phonetic languages like German, Italian or even Spanish. (Though strictly speaking it is accepted in English-speaking countries in some contexts —like legal Latin I think— to pronounce it more or less as if they were English words).

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    I really like your find of Cavebo quae sunt cavenda, it indeed reminds me the (pretty much the same [at least the second part]) quote of Dali Lama: ""If it can be solved, there's no need to worry, and if it can't be solved, worry is of no use.", which, in my opinion at least, has the same sentiment of the OP's quote that I've absorbed.
    – d_e
    Aug 12, 2020 at 18:09
  • @d_e, thanks! I agree it is a neat sentence, even if Cicero seems to have written it in a much more practical sense
    – Rafael
    Aug 12, 2020 at 18:49
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You could use the famous (if very likely Apocryphal) Caesar quote:

"Alea iacta est," commonly translated as "The die is cast." Supposedly, Caesar uttered this phrase as he led his army across the Rubicon into Italy (against the law of the Republic).

I liked this phrase, considering that there was no use worrying or turning back once he had crossed the river. I think that's the feeling you're looking for.

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