Repulsae Nescia is a Latin phrase meaning "ignorant of defeat" in English.1 The longer phrase from Horace, Virtus Repulsae Nescia, is often translated as "courage knows no defeat".
History
It is found in Horace: Odes, III., 2, 17.2 The following passage:
Virtus repulsae nescia sordidae
Intaminatis fulget honoribus,
Nec sumit aut ponit securis
Arbitrio popularis aurae.
was translated by Conington3 as:
True Virtue never knows defeat:
Her robes she keeps unsullied still;
Nor take, nor quits, her curule seat,
To please a people's veering will.
Usage as a motto
- Rockport School in Craigavad, Holywood, N. Ireland, founded 1906
- Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, founded 1854 (formerly)
- Lasell University in Newton, Massachusetts, founded 1851
- Gisborne Boys' High School in Gisborne, New Zealand, founded 1909
- Gisborne Girls' High School in Gisborne, New Zealand, founded 1956
References
References
- Lasell College: Traditions
- "Horace: Odes III".
- Dictionary of quotations (Classical). S. Sonnenschein & Co. 1906. p. 303.