# ничто не угнетает душу так, как бедность



## sclubusher

Hello Morzh and everyone !

I'd like to know how to translate this sentanceand what's the meaning :

_Потому что ничто не угнетает душу так, как бедность_

Many thanks !!

Have a nice one


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## Natalisha

Because nothing depresses the spirit as much as poverty.


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## William Stein

Natalisha said:


> Because nothing depresses the spirit as much as poverty.


 
Or in French: Car rien n'accable l'âme comme la pauvreté.


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## sclubusher

Merci à tous 

And, basically what does it mean " Because nothing depresses the spirit as much as poverty. " ?

Spasibo


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## Natalisha

sclubusher said:


> Merci à tous
> 
> And, basically what does it mean " Because nothing depresses the spirit as much as poverty. " ?
> 
> Spasibo


I hoped *you* would tell us.  Having no context we can only guess. But nobody knows if our guessing is correct...


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## morzh

sclubusher said:


> Merci à tous
> 
> And, basically what does it mean " Because nothing depresses the spirit as much as poverty. " ?
> 
> Spasibo




After it's been translated in all the languages you seem to wield, there's not much more we can add - you have to take the saying at its face value.

Poverty depresses the spirit. This is it. A poor man has no time, nor the desire or energy left to stop looking down at Earth and to look up in the skies. He survives. He will not buy a painting, or go to see Commedia dell' arte, or buy a CD with Bach's Orgelbuchlein, because he has no money for it and has to provide. He will buy a loaf of bread or a pound of grits, or  humble pie ingredients, and at 5 am he will push his sled over icy road towards the well to fill a 10-gallon bottle of water for his cow, which he also has to warm up on a fire. Provided he even has the cow.

What else can I tell you?


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## viesis

sclubusher said:


> Merci à tous
> 
> And, basically what does it mean " Because nothing depresses the spirit as much as poverty. " ?
> 
> Spasibo


It can be also translated as "Because nothing devastates the soul as much as poverty." If it helps undestanding.


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## morzh

viesis said:


> It can be also translated as "Because nothing devastates the soul as much as poverty." If it helps undestanding.



It may be used to explain the meaning, but you cannot translate it as that: devastation is extremely strong word, and means full destruction, which is not, what depression means.


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## viesis

morzh said:


> It may be used to explain the meaning, but you cannot translate it as that: devastation is extremely strong word, and means full destruction, which is not, what depression means.


Well, I admit that I overemphasized the aspect of destruction for the sake of better understanding. My bad. Just I was doubtful about the word "depress". But what I'm pretty sure of is that "spirit" does not fit here, since it means "дух", but not "душа" which makes difference.


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## viesis

Aha! I've done a bit of Google search and found out that the above phrase is a memorable quote of the character of Rev Austen from "Becoming Jane" movie. The original reads "Nothing destroys spirit like poverty". So, it looks like we are dealing with a Russian translation of the English quote, and quite doubtful translation at that, for, if you ask me, "spirit" is not "душа".


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## morzh

Soul and spirit are used interchangeably. If you look at dictionaries, "soul" is explained through spirit, and spirit - through soul.

In certain stable expressions (lie "they are with us in spirit") particular words are required; otherwise the difference is very vague if any.


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## viesis

Although "soul" and "spirit" are sometimes interchangeable, I can imagine situations when they are not, just like "душа" and "дух" in Russian. So, the context would be most helpful. 
However, given the out-of-context Russian phrase, the translation of "душа" as either "soul" or "spirit" is possible.


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## morzh

viesis said:


> Although "soul" and "spirit" are sometimes interchangeable, I can imagine situations when they are not, just like "душа" and "дух" in Russian. So, the context would be most helpful.
> However, given the out-of-context Russian phrase, the translation of "душа" as either "soul" or "spirit" is possible.



Yes. Here are some examples.

Well, for starters, "Дух из тебя вон" / "душа из тебя вон", is an example where they are the same.

Then, "русский дух" and "русская душа" is where they are not the same.

Also, same as in English, "our spirit is strong" requires "spirit", so does Russian "наш дух силён" require "дух".

So, all in all, the border is blurred between the two, and often the usage is determined by what's customary and stable. Where it is not, often (not always, but often) either is usable.


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## William Stein

morzh said:


> Soul and spirit are used interchangeably. If you look at dictionaries, "soul" is explained through spirit, and spirit - through soul.
> 
> In certain stable expressions (lie "they are with us in spirit") particular words are required; otherwise the difference is very vague if any.



I agree with Viesis, "spirit" and "soul"  aren't not used interchangeably, and it's not just a question of idioms. In most cases, "spirit" implies "force, vigor, will, enthusiasm" whereas "soul" expresses "compassion, feeling", for example.

They've lost their fighting spirit (the will to fight - " fighting soul" is impossible).
That's the spirit (that's the right degree of enthusiasm - "That's the soul" is impossible).
She's really got soul (she has a lot of sensitivity and compassion - "she's got spirit"  is possible but it means something else: she has a lot of drive and enthusiasm.
In the spirit of the times = in keeping with the general attitude, philosophy of the times; "the soul of the times" might be possible but it would have some kind of weird Hegelian Weltgeist connotations.


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## morzh

William Stein said:


> I agree with Viesis, "spirit" and "soul"  aren't not used interchangeably, and it's not just a question of idioms. In most cases, "spirit" implies "force, vigor, will, enthusiasm" whereas "soul" expresses "compassion, feeling", for example.
> 
> They've lost their fighting spirit (the will to fight - " fighting soul" is impossible).
> That's the spirit (that's the right degree of enthusiasm - "That's the soul" is impossible).
> She's really got soul (she has a lot of sensitivity and compassion - "she's got spirit"  is possible but it means something else: she has a lot of drive and enthusiasm.
> In the spirit of the times = in keeping with the general attitude, philosophy of the times; "the soul of the times" might be possible but it would have some kind of weird Hegelian Weltgeist connotations.



I agree, but there are plenty of examples where they are the same.

Like, "my soul cried" or "my spirit cried" (like in "Stairway to Heaven" - "and my spirit is crying for leaving").
Some expressions require spirit, some - soul.
Some - do not care.


Here's the quote from Bible study:

"Even though our Bible uses the words soul and spirit *interchangeably,*  there is a very *distinct difference* that we cannot ignore. These  passages in God's Word that make a very clear distinction between the  soul and the spirit:..."

This is the key: yes, there is a formal difference, and yes, they are used interchangeably (not everywhere, but often).


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## Natalisha

I consider everybody here understands and feels the difference between these two words.
But still we've got no context and *sclubusher* seems to have lost interest in the discussion of the question (sorry, if I'm wrong), so there is no use continuing guessing.


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## sclubusher

viesis said:


> Aha! I've done a bit of Google search and found out that the above phrase is a memorable quote of the character of Rev Austen from "Becoming Jane" movie. The original reads "Nothing destroys spirit like poverty". So, it looks like we are dealing with a Russian translation of the English quote, and quite doubtful translation at that, for, if you ask me, "spirit" is not "душа".


 
Hello there, Sorry I was away. I'm still interesting in this topic 

What Viesis said, is the answer, because my female friend has already watched this film. So I wouldn't suprised if it was a quote from this movie that she tranlates in Russian. I'm so sorry, I've never watch this film therefore I don't know the context.

Many thanks for your explanations about Soul and Spirit as well , but in this nquote, is Soul or Spirit ?

Sorry for the lateness...


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## Natalisha

sclubusher said:


> Hello there, Sorry I was away. I'm still interesting in this topic
> 
> What Viesis said, is the answer, because my female friend has already watched this film. So I wouldn't suprised if it was a quote from this movie that she tranlates in Russian. I'm so sorry, I've never watch this film therefore I don't know the context.
> 
> Many thanks for your explanations about Soul and Spirit as well , but in this nquote, is Soul or Spirit ?


You are welcome! 

I haven't seen the film you're talking about, either. Does your friend translate from Russian into English? Do you help her?


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## William Stein

sclubusher said:


> Hello there, Sorry I was away. I'm still interesting in this topic
> 
> What Viesis said, is the answer, because my female friend has already watched this film. So I wouldn't suprised if it was a quote from this movie that she tranlates in Russian. I'm so sorry, I've never watch this film therefore I don't know the context.
> 
> Many thanks for your explanations about Soul and Spirit as well , but in this nquote, is Soul or Spirit ?
> 
> Sorry for the lateness...



I think it should be spirit in your quote, because it means it destroys a person's resistance and fighting spirit. If you said "Poverty destroys the soul" it would mean that poor people would became immoral and go to hell, which is definitely not what Jane Austen is trying to say.


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## sclubusher

Many thanks for everything.

And yes she translates from Russian to English, but unfortunately I don't still speak Russian. But that's what I do very soon, because i love thislanguage, so beautiful


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