Motto
The school's motto, Porta Vacat Culpa ("the gate is free from blame"), is a quotation from Ovid's Fasti. 'The gate' (Porta) refers to the school's famous arch and, by a synecdoche of pars pro toto, the school itself, whilst also being a pun on the name of the school's founder, Sir John Port. It is an unusual motto for a public school in that it does not form an exhortation to, or a claim of, virtue or excellence but seems rather to act as a disclaimer: the school cannot be held responsible for the shortcomings of those educated there.
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Famous quotes containing the word motto:
“I always say, my motto is “Art for my sake.” If I want to write, I write—and if I don’t want to, I won’t. The difficulty is to find exactly the form one’s passion—work is produced by passion with me ... Mwants to take.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“My friend devotes himself to his life, whenever he can find the spare time. His motto is: ‘Don’t just sit there: live!’ So he’s too busy to stand, to walk, to do anything, except to live. He even refused to kiss a girl, when invited, on the grounds that it was time again to be living. Schedules are sacred to him.”
—Marvin Cohen, U.S. author and humorist. The Self-Devoted Friend, New Directions (1967)
“My motto is: “Lord I disbelieve—help thou my unbelief.””
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)