mendacem memorem esse oportet
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
"It is fitting that a liar should be a man of good memory" (Institutes, IV, ii, 91). It occurs in Taverner's translation of Erasmus's Proverbs (1539) — A Iyer ought not to be forgetfull.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “mendacem memorem esse oportet” mean?
"It is fitting that a liar should be a man of good memory" (Institutes, IV, ii, 91). It occurs in Taverner's translation of Erasmus's Proverbs (1539) — A Iyer ought not to be forgetfull.
Is “mendacem memorem esse oportet” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.