Meaning & Analysis
One person can help another so profoundly and unexpectedly that their actions seem god-like, providing salvation, comfort, or a significant benefit beyond all expectation.
Insights
Human Potential for Good
The proverb is a powerful statement on the immense potential for good within humanity. It suggests that our capacity for kindness, empathy, and mutual support is so great that it can be considered a divine attribute.
Social Interdependence
It underscores the fundamental interdependence of human beings. Our well-being, survival, and flourishing are deeply connected to the actions of others, implying that our greatest source of help comes from within our own communities.
Humanistic Responsibility
The proverb can be seen as a core tenet of secular humanism, placing the ultimate source of moral good and salvation within humanity itself. It suggests we have a responsibility to act as benevolent forces in each other's lives.
Renaissance Humanism
Originating from classical antiquity and popularized by Renaissance humanists like Erasmus, the proverb reflects a shift towards valuing human agency and potential. It posits that the greatest source of aid and salvation can be found in fellow human beings, rather than solely in the divine.
Philosophical Duality
This proverb is one half of a profound philosophical dichotomy, often contrasted with its counterpart, 'Man is a wolf to man' (Homo homini lupus). Together, they encapsulate the dual potential of human nature for both extraordinary kindness and extreme cruelty, a central theme in Western philosophy from Plautus to Hobbes.
Psychology of Altruism
The proverb speaks to the deep psychological impact of altruism and unexpected aid. Receiving significant help from another person can feel like a transcendent or divine experience, creating powerful bonds of gratitude and affirming the positive potential of social connection.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The central device is the powerful metaphor comparing a human to a 'god', which elevates acts of kindness and mutual support to a divine level of importance and impact.
Epigrammatic Structure
The proverb's concise and balanced phrasing ('Man... to man') gives it a memorable, aphoristic quality, making it sound like a timeless, universal truth.
Antithesis
When placed in its full context alongside 'Man is a wolf to man', the proverb creates a stark antithesis that captures the paradoxical and dual nature of humanity.
Transcription
Quotations
Homo homini Deus.
Homo homini deus, Man is man's god, applied to hym, which with any singular benefite, helpeth a man aboue his expectation.
The olde Greke prouerbe .. that a man, to a man shall sometyme be as a God.
In wealth and wo thy frend, an other self to thee, Such man to man a God, the prouerb sayth to be.
Man, is God to man.
Man is a God unto man, for that one receiueth so great pleasure and comfort of another.
The prouerbe is exiled, homo homini deus, man is a God to man.
Man to man is God.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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