Basque proverbs — read closely

Parallel & Proverbs

A weekly literary miscellany

Time Forgets Everything

Aldi luzeak guztia ahaztu

aldi luzeak guztia ahaztu

Why the Basque say that, given long enough, time forgets everything — and how the same slow force carves stone in Latin, refuses to un-spill water in Korean, and devours all things in Ovid.

Time 1,210 wds 7 min

Basque proverbs, at a glance

Given long enough, time forgets everything

Aldi luzeak guztia ahaztu

Literally: The long while forgets everything

Basque · Basque Country (Spain/France)

Set beside
- Latin — the same slow force of time, but carving the stone rather than erasing the memory; the proverbs are two halves of one Basque saying
- Korean — irreversibility: what is done cannot be undone, where the Basque consoles that even the done is dissolved by time
- Latin (Ovid) — time the devourer of all things; appetite and grandeur where the Basque is plain and consoling