# Inner strength/spiritual strength



## mindtrap

Hello all of you
how would you say Inner strength (as in spiritual strength) in russian? I'm thinking about getting it as a tattoo and I'm considering having it in russian

love


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## morzh

Сила духа. (spiritual strength)
Внутренний стержень. (literally - inner supporting rod).


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## mindtrap

thanks  !!


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## morzh

mindtrap said:


> thanks  !!



I'd wait for others to suggest more. After all, a tattoo is there for a long time.


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## mindtrap

Yesyes I will double-check everything before making a decision


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## Hoax

I like "сила духа", it is short enough and looks nice and unusuall when is handwritten.


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## Maroseika

Why not just внутренняя сила?
But in Ossetian it would be even cooler... Russian letters, and nobody will ever understand what sort of devilry it is.


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## morzh

Maroseika said:


> Why not just внутренняя сила?
> But in Ossetian it would be even cooler... Russian letters, and nobody will ever understand what sort of devilry it is.



No, "внутрення сила" is something strange. "Сила духа" is the "spiritual strength" and the "inner strength" usually also means the spiritual strength. And it is a set expression.


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## Maroseika

Well, but doesn't he want "inner strength as in spiritual strength" rather than just "spiritual strength"?


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## morzh

I think in Russian, maybe due to most of 20th century being fairly atheistic, "сила духа" came to mean both the inner and the spiritual strength.
In English they are not the same, though not totally dissimilar, and may be used interchangeably by some people.

It is just in Russian "дух" and "сила духа" have lost spiritual / religious part of it, so it can stand for both.
I have never heard "внутренняя сила".
But in one of the Soviet time songs the words go: "Богатьiрская наша сила, сила духа и сила воли".

Of course, there is also that "сила воли", but that is "willpower".

PS. There are plenty of "внутренняя сила" found on the web. It is in use, but I have never heard it in speech. It is a clumsy combination to me.


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## Maroseika

morzh said:


> I have never heard "внутренняя сила".
> ...
> PS. There are plenty of "внутренняя сила" found on the web. It is in use, but I have never heard it in speech. It is a clumsy combination to me.



And in literature as well. It sounds quite natural for me.


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## Hoax

I guess it is not common to see "внутренняя сила" standing alone with no further explanations as people can understand it differently (сила духа, сила воли, сила мысли, сила веры...) and it is the reason why said alone it sounds awkward, a context is needed and there will be no context on guy's body for sure, so this variant is not good at all.


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## morzh

Hoax said:


> I guess it is not common to see "внутренняя сила" standing alone with no further explanations as people can understand it differently (сила духа, сила воли, сила мысли, сила веры...) and it is the reason why said alone it sounds awkward, a context is needed and there will be no context on guy's body for sure, so this variant is not good at all.



Yes. This is probably what I wanted to say. I cannot imagine it being used alone.

That is, it won't make a motto.

Сила духа - can be a motto
Сила воли - also can
Внутрення сила - cannot.


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## morbo

Can't help imagining "Сила духа", when used alone, as the trademark of a herbal tea, ointment made of threshed and ground critters or some other "traditional" concoction, complete with the image on the package depicting a huge, bearded, swashbuckling epic hero dashing through the woods on an enormous black horse.

Tattoo is a serious thing that shouldn't be taken lightly.


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## Hoax

morbo said:


> Can't help imaging "Сила духа", when used alone, as the trademark of a herbal tea, ointment made of threshed and ground critters or some other "traditional" concoction, complete with the image of a huge, bearded, swashbuckling epic hero dashing through the woods on an enormous black horse.
> 
> Tattoo is a serious thing that shouldn't be taken lightly.



Not at all, I can hardly imagine where would you pick up such an idea oO


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## morbo

Hard to say. But these kinds of phrases are in perpetual favor with the cottage industry.

This is what surfaced upon a quick glance:
http://biopharmos.pulscen.ru/tov/descr/177155
http://www.ailita.kz/index.php?id=861


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## Hoax

morbo said:


> Hard to say. But these kinds of phrases are in perpetual favor with the cottage industry.
> 
> This is what surfaced upon a quick glance:
> http://biopharmos.pulscen.ru/tov/descr/177155
> http://www.ailita.kz/index.php?id=861



You drag it in, i've never seen or heard of such stuff before


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## GBTG

or you can say " духовная сила "


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## GBTG

But I like "Сила воли " better


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## morzh

GBTG  We are not really discussing "силу воли"  here.  This forum, same as others, exists to answer the questions asked, as long as they make sense. If you can make case for translating "inner / spiritual strength" as "сила воли" - OK, make the case, but we are not discussing here what looks good as a tattoo. We discussing what the valid translation is, and whether or not it can be used standalone (since this is how a tattoo would use it).


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## GBTG

Ok. I just wrote a translation, and then wrote my opinion. But OK. I understand.


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## angelg12

It consists of ginseng. Can not you buy ginseng root ginseng?


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