Looking for advice that stands the test of time? Long before self-help books, medieval scholars like Alain de Lille were offering life lessons that are surprisingly relevant today. From laziness and greed to friendship and fate, his Parabolae is packed with wisdom—in verse.
Who Was Alain de Lille?
Alain de Lille (c. 1128 – 1202/03) was a twelfth-century French teacher and writer, renowned for his intellect and wide-ranging knowledge. Legends sprung up around him, including one tale in which he persuaded a group of brigands who came to rob his classroom to instead surrender themselves to the authorities. According to one admirer, his epitaph read:
“Here is Alain, scruffy and short. Whatever it was humanly possible to know, he knew.”
What Is the Parabolae?
One of Alain’s many works was the Parabolae—a school textbook written in verse. It contains 132 short pieces of advice, ranging from single couplets to longer six-line reflections. While intended to teach grammar, it also delivered sharp moral lessons on topics like anger, laziness, friendship, and generosity.
Alain’s Top Tips for Living Well
Alain de Lille (on the left) in debate with another scholar, Petrus Cantor – British Library, MS Add. 19767, fol. 217
Here are twelve of our favourite pieces of advice, as translated by Ian Thomson and Louis Perraud:
Often a new road – not an old one – deceives the traveller. So too a new comrade – not an old one – deceives a comrade.→ Stick with those who’ve stood the test of time.
A ram does not lug his fleece around for himself, but for others. So too is a miser always amassing wealth for others.→ Hoarding wealth doesn’t serve you in the end.
Arrows can pierce armour. Mockery and nasty words can pierce my heart. → Words hurt. Medieval scholars knew that too.
No water can quench a raging thirst, and no abundance satisfy a greedy heart.
You can hope for day after night, sun after clouds, a smile and happiness after tears.→ A poetic reminder that bad times don’t last.
A ship will sail not where the sailor, but where the wind wills, when there comes a wave from a swelling sea. Each man must go forth where fortune, not his intention, takes him. All must go forward with fortune as leader.→ Fate has more sway than our plans.
A fire widely scattered exerts less force than one strengthened by bundles of wood. He who gathers his forces falls more strongly on his foe than one who harasses him with scattered forces.→ Focus and unity make you stronger.
The fox is cruel and harsh in its own lair, although it would run away first if it were outside. A dog lying in a familiar doorway turns vicious and bites when it sees that a pack of dogs is reinforcing it. A wicked man is bolder among his fellows than he is on unfamiliar ground with an enemy threatening.→ Cowards find courage in company.
Different medicines work for different diseases. As the diseases vary, so do they. Teaching does not enter the mind by one method alone. For some, fear, for others, admonitions, for yet others, friendship is applied. You cannot calm four-footed beasts by striking them, and the rod cannot force raw schoolboys to study.→ One-size-fits-all doesn’t work—not even in medieval education.
A procrastinator postpones everything in the most irritating way, and out of one tomorrow makes me a thousand tomorrows. Why doesn’t a man who multiplies “tomorrows” multiply “todays” instead? Does not “today” mark off a period of sunshine as well as “tomorrow”? After today is over, it is usually tomorrow which has been brought back with the sun. But the procrastinator does not have the tomorrow which he promises me. That day will never dawn, nor the sun which shines in it, since his “tomorrow” will always be around the corner.→ The medieval version of “just do it.”
A man who has never learned what real hunger is does not appreciate what tastiness a savoury morsel has. After a burning thirst, after hunger, two things are especially sweet to us, drink and food. Honey clings sweetly to a man’s palate if a sour taste stings it first. A man who endures cold respects warm clothes. A man who has suffered a disease rejoices in the good fortune of health. Whoever considers the false blessings of the world and the blessings of heaven, let him eschew the false ones from the bottom of his heart, and let him seek the true blessings. Let one who wishes to win a place in heaven rid his heart before death of the sins and misfortunes of this world.→ Gratitude grows from struggle.
Where to Read More
Want more medieval wisdom? You can read the full Parabolae—along with other school texts used by medieval students—in Ten Latin Schooltexts of the Middle Ages (1990), translated by Ian Thomson and Louis Perraud and published by The Edwin Mellen Press.
Looking for advice that stands the test of time? Long before self-help books, medieval scholars like Alain de Lille were offering life lessons that are surprisingly relevant today. From laziness and greed to friendship and fate, his Parabolae is packed with wisdom—in verse.
Who Was Alain de Lille?
Alain de Lille (c. 1128 – 1202/03) was a twelfth-century French teacher and writer, renowned for his intellect and wide-ranging knowledge. Legends sprung up around him, including one tale in which he persuaded a group of brigands who came to rob his classroom to instead surrender themselves to the authorities. According to one admirer, his epitaph read:
“Here is Alain, scruffy and short. Whatever it was humanly possible to know, he knew.”
What Is the Parabolae?
One of Alain’s many works was the Parabolae—a school textbook written in verse. It contains 132 short pieces of advice, ranging from single couplets to longer six-line reflections. While intended to teach grammar, it also delivered sharp moral lessons on topics like anger, laziness, friendship, and generosity.
Alain’s Top Tips for Living Well
Here are twelve of our favourite pieces of advice, as translated by Ian Thomson and Louis Perraud:
Often a new road – not an old one – deceives the traveller. So too a new comrade – not an old one – deceives a comrade.→ Stick with those who’ve stood the test of time.
A ram does not lug his fleece around for himself, but for others. So too is a miser always amassing wealth for others.→ Hoarding wealth doesn’t serve you in the end.
Arrows can pierce armour. Mockery and nasty words can pierce my heart. → Words hurt. Medieval scholars knew that too.
No water can quench a raging thirst, and no abundance satisfy a greedy heart.
You can hope for day after night, sun after clouds, a smile and happiness after tears.→ A poetic reminder that bad times don’t last.
A ship will sail not where the sailor, but where the wind wills, when there comes a wave from a swelling sea. Each man must go forth where fortune, not his intention, takes him. All must go forward with fortune as leader.→ Fate has more sway than our plans.
A fire widely scattered exerts less force than one strengthened by bundles of wood. He who gathers his forces falls more strongly on his foe than one who harasses him with scattered forces.→ Focus and unity make you stronger.
The fox is cruel and harsh in its own lair, although it would run away first if it were outside. A dog lying in a familiar doorway turns vicious and bites when it sees that a pack of dogs is reinforcing it. A wicked man is bolder among his fellows than he is on unfamiliar ground with an enemy threatening.→ Cowards find courage in company.
Different medicines work for different diseases. As the diseases vary, so do they. Teaching does not enter the mind by one method alone. For some, fear, for others, admonitions, for yet others, friendship is applied. You cannot calm four-footed beasts by striking them, and the rod cannot force raw schoolboys to study.→ One-size-fits-all doesn’t work—not even in medieval education.
A procrastinator postpones everything in the most irritating way, and out of one tomorrow makes me a thousand tomorrows. Why doesn’t a man who multiplies “tomorrows” multiply “todays” instead? Does not “today” mark off a period of sunshine as well as “tomorrow”? After today is over, it is usually tomorrow which has been brought back with the sun. But the procrastinator does not have the tomorrow which he promises me. That day will never dawn, nor the sun which shines in it, since his “tomorrow” will always be around the corner.→ The medieval version of “just do it.”
A man who has never learned what real hunger is does not appreciate what tastiness a savoury morsel has. After a burning thirst, after hunger, two things are especially sweet to us, drink and food. Honey clings sweetly to a man’s palate if a sour taste stings it first. A man who endures cold respects warm clothes. A man who has suffered a disease rejoices in the good fortune of health. Whoever considers the false blessings of the world and the blessings of heaven, let him eschew the false ones from the bottom of his heart, and let him seek the true blessings. Let one who wishes to win a place in heaven rid his heart before death of the sins and misfortunes of this world.→ Gratitude grows from struggle.
Where to Read More
Want more medieval wisdom? You can read the full Parabolae—along with other school texts used by medieval students—in Ten Latin Schooltexts of the Middle Ages (1990), translated by Ian Thomson and Louis Perraud and published by The Edwin Mellen Press.
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