Hinc illae lacrimae

"Hinc illae lacrimae" (Latin for "hence those/these tears") is a line from the comedy Andria (166 BC), by the Roman poet Terence. The phrase has, since the era of the Roman Republic, been appropriated for use as a popular saying or quotation, to be employed when a previously-obscured reason or explanation—for some action(s) or behavior—is recognized; and, especially, when a baser motivation is thereby identified, contra an (initially-assumed) nobler one.

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