# A mind that is not afraid to speak will inspire many



## liola

Hello! I am looking for an accurate translation of  "a mind that is not afraid to speak will inspire many". It is my family's motto and I have always wondered what it would be in Latin. The motto also comes in the form "a rude mind inspires many", so it would be good to have this also. Thank you!


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## Snodv

I would go with "Mens audax multos inspirabit."  Or possibly "...incendet,"  which means "will set on fire" in a figurative way.  As for _rude_, there are different shades of meaning but none of them is particularly complimentary: _insolens_ means "disrespectful"; _rudis_ and _inurbana _would describe the _mens_ as that of someone who might be called a "country bumpkin."


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## bearded

Snodv said:


> "Mens audax multos inspirabit."


I like that translation very much. A possible objection could be that 'audax' only means_ bold/audacious,_ but does not render the part ''to speak'': I therefore was going to suggest ''Mens_ in loquendo_ audax…'', but then, on second thought, minds do not actually 'speak' at all  (and I wonder how they can do so in English..).


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## Coffeemachtspass

Lingua audaciorum multos inspirabit. 

Perhaps?


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## Snodv

Well, there are problems with that.  One is that _audax_ is third declension, so it does not have its genitive plural in _-orum_.  Another is that it doesn't need to be plural at all--one tongue doesn't belong to multiple bold persons.  As a matter of fact, you really wouldn't need genitive either--you could just call the tongue itself bold:  _Lingua audax multos inspirabit.  _After all that, however, kudos to you for choosing _lingua_ for the subject!


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## Coffeemachtspass

Thank you for the corrections. 

My thought on singular _lingua _was that there is only one per outspoken person. Any views on that grammatical notion?

As for the plurality of bold speakers, liola specified that it was a family motto. A bit of encouragement meant for many, not for one. So, a brave tongue set in many mouths.

Cheers.


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## GattoSulTavolo

I suggest: "Mens non timens loqui multos inspirare potens" but I'm not sure about the grammar.


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## Snodv

First part, "A mind not fearing to speak," looks good.  The second part also uses the present participle, "being able to inspire many."  If it is to be a sentence, and you want to say "can" instead of "will," I'd change the _potens_ to _potest.  _Then you have a contender!


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## GattoSulTavolo

Thank you Snodv.

What about "Non timens loqui mens multos inspiratura (est)"?


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## Snodv

I wouldn't think that the future active participle + _est_ offers anything better than the simple future _inspirabit, _but I suppose it is a valid construction.


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