Non omnibus aegris eadem auxilia conveniunt.
(Celsus, De Remediis 3.1.5)

The same remedies are not appropriate for all sick people.

Comment: Taken as a metaphor, this has applications to many situations. Not all teaching/learning methods are helpful to all students. The residents of some Atlanta area neighborhoods would be glad to hear that "not all buildings fit in the same neighborhoods" after watching historic bungalows being torn down to build what have become known as McMansions. In language work, one soon learns that the same meaning does not always fit every use of a word.

And so it goes. It has become fashionable over the last 20 years to bash "situational ethics", and those who do would like to return to some notion of absolute right and wrong--most often where they are right and anyone who sees it differently is wrong (which, by the way, is just an extreme version of situational ethics). It also depends on who is interpreting their favorite verses from their own particular sacred writ.

Human experience is very varied, and no two situations are ever exactly alike. Approaching a new situation requires some reflection on what fits here, now. What fits here and now may be similar to what fit in a similar situation before, but it's that ounce of difference that will make for a good outcome, or a disaster.


Bob Patrick
(Used with permission)
Latin Proverb of the Day Archive