I came across the following Latin phrase in my weekend reading: esse quam videri.
Loosely translated, it means “to be rather than to seem.” If Wikipedia is to be believed, the phrase originates with Cicero’s essay “On Friendship,” in which he writes Virtute enim ipsa non tam multi praediti esse quam videri volunt (“Few are those who wish to be endowed with virtue rather than to seem so”).
Was Cicero right? I dunno. He was writing more than 2,000 years ago in Italy. But with the “fake it till you make it” mindset that’s so prevalent—and so inexplicably valued—these days, I’d say he pretty much nailed 2017 America.
