Re: The Ladder, The Rung, and the Crowley

Stephen Glynn wrote:

> Ronald Raygun wrote:
>> Crowley wrote:
>>>
>>>per ardua ad astra eh ?
>>
>> Peasant. It's aspera.
>
> Eh? 'Per ardua ad astra' ('Through hard work to the stars') was
> apparently the motto of my late wife's school. The RAF seem to use it
> as well. Google suggests that 'ad astra per aspera' ('To the stars
> through difficulties') is the state motto of Kansas, though I've a
> feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

"Hard work" is a marginal translation of ardua, "difficulties"
lies closer to ardua than it does to aspera, which is more like
"unpleasantnesses". That said, the two words are relatively
synonymous in this context. The motto, in either form, just means
that if you want to get to the top, don't expect an easy ride.

I maintain that my version is the more proper one, though, and in this
I am supported by the net's answer to mob rule, namely (since you brought
it up) Google:

'per ardua ad astra' scores only about 39.2k hits, whereas
'per aspera ad astra' scores 208k.
'ad astra per aspera' scores 104k, and
'ad astra per ardua' shows only 402 (no k).

Looks like "aspera" has it by a comfortable margin.

.

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