Dum spiro spero

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Dum spiro spero means "While I breathe, I hope"^[1] in Latin. It is a motto of various places and organisations, the largest of which is the U.S. state of South Carolina.

Derivation[]

The sense of dum spiro spero can be found in the work of Greek poet Theocritus (3rd Century BC), who wrote: "While there's life there’s hope, and only the dead have none."^[2]

The sentiment seems to be common by the time of Roman statesman Cicero (106 – 43 BC). who wrote Atticus: "As in the case of a sick man one says, 'While there is life there is hope' [dum anima est, spes esse], so, as long as Pompey was in Italy, I did not cease to hope."^[3]

The notable origin of the motto is St Andrews, Fife, Scotland.^{[citation needed]} Its attribution to Saint Andrew and his bones being taken to this small fishing village on the North Sea, contributed to its direct linkage between the saying, the town, the University of St Andrews and the Saint.^{[citation needed]}

Use[]

• Dum spiro spero is the motto of:
  • South Carolina^[4]
  • the Kingdom of Sarawak.^[5][6]
  • the Principality of Hutt River^{[citation needed]}
  • Cothill House Preparatory School in Oxfordshire, England.^[7]
  • Burstow Park House, in Surrey England^{[citation needed]}
  • Fairfield College, a secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Oliver Lodge Primary School in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
  • The Czech Army's 601st Special Forces Group, based in Prostějov^[8]
  • Dispute 'Stropdas', part of E.S.R. Thêta.
• Dum spiro spero is inscribed:
  • on the wall of Edzell Castle, and spelled out by the shrubs in the castle's walled garden
  • above the door of Nymans House, West Sussex, England, old home of the Messel family now a National Trust property and gardens.^{[citation needed]}
  • on medallions marking the Barbary Coast Trail in San Francisco, California^[9]
  • on a window of Beverly Unitarian Church
  • on the sign of the Divers' Arms pub in Herne Bay.
• A song called "Dum spiro spero" is the theme for the video game Clive Barker's Undying.^[10]
• Japanese Avant-Garde Metal band Dir en grey named their eighth full length album Dum Spiro Spero.^[11]
• In the TV series Spooks, S8E5, Lucas North has a tattoo Dum Spiro Spero across his shoulders.
• Sean Shmelev, an israeli male Playboy model has the latin phrase Dum Spiro Spero tattooed on his arm

Family and individual use[]

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Dum spiro spero is used as a motto by armigerous families including the Corbet baronets of Moreton Corbet (both creations), the Hoare baronets of Annabella, Co. Cork, and the Viscounts Dillon.^[12] The Williamson Clan from Co Donegal, Ireland; and the Scottish Clan MacLennan. Individuals who used the motto include Charles I,^[13] King of England; Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak,^[14] and the merchant seaman and privateer, later Royal Governor of the Bahama Islands, Woodes Rogers.^[15]

See also[]

• List of Latin phrases

References[]

External links[]

• Quotations related to Theocritus at Wikiquote
• Quotations related to Cicero at Wikiquote
• The dictionary definition of hope springs eternal at Wiktionary