Latin Quotes Worth Knowing About: You See a Louse on Someone Else, You don't see a Tick on Yourself!

In the Satyricon (57), Petronius writes:


In alio pediculum vides, in te ricinum non vides!
You see a louse on someone else. You don't see a tick on yourself! 


This is startlingly similar to the sentiment expressed in Matthew 7:3:


τι δε βλεπεις το καρφος το εν τω οφθαλμω του αδελφου σου την δε εν τω σω οφθαλμω δοκον ου κατανοεις?
Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log that is is in your own eye?

This Latin quote implies an ancient awareness that tick-borne illnesses were more dangerous than those on lice. Otzi the Iceman himself tests positive as being the oldest known case of Lyme Disease.

In the final analysis, the advice is as pertinent to us as moderns as it was to those living two thousand years ago--Do not judge others. Examine only yourself. Make corrections as necessary. Rinse. Repeat.

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